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Developing High Performance GaP/Si Heterojunction Solar Cells
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Grain boundary engineering for improved thin silicon photovoltaics.

Rajamani Raghunathan1, Eric Johlin, Jeffrey C Grossman

  • 1Department of Materials Science and Engineering and ‡Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.

Nano Letters
|June 26, 2014
PubMed
Summary

Grain boundaries in silicon solar cells can be detrimental, but this study explores ordered grain boundaries to harness amorphous silicon

Keywords:
Photovoltaicsdensity functional theorygrain boundary engineeringsilicon

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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Solid-State Physics
  • Photovoltaics

Background:

  • Grain boundaries (GBs) in polycrystalline silicon typically degrade photovoltaic device performance.
  • Amorphous silicon exhibits beneficial optical properties like increased band gap and absorption.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Investigate ordered Σ3 grain boundaries in silicon.
  • Balance beneficial amorphous silicon properties with improved electronic transport.

Main Methods:

  • Theoretical methods applied to study Σ3 GBs.
  • Analysis of material properties and photovoltaic performance.

Main Results:

  • Ordered Σ3 GBs offer a pathway to mitigate negative impacts of disorder.
  • Potential for enhanced optical absorption without sacrificing electronic transport.

Conclusions:

  • Ordered Σ3 GBs present a strategy for improving silicon solar cell efficiency.
  • Harnessing GB properties can lead to advanced photovoltaic materials.