Enhanced photovoltaic property by forming p-i-n structures containing Si quantum dots/SiC multilayers

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Solid State Physics

Background:

• Silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) offer tunable optical and electronic properties.
• SiC is a robust material suitable for semiconductor devices.
• Multilayer structures can enhance material performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate Si QDs/SiC multilayers using annealing.
• To investigate the optical and carrier transport properties of the fabricated multilayers.
• To fabricate and test a solar cell device utilizing the Si QDs/SiC multilayers.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of hydrogenated amorphous Si/SiC multilayers via plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition.
• Annealing of multilayers at 900°C to form Si QDs.
• Characterization using transmission electron microscopy and optical absorption spectroscopy.
• Fabrication of a p-i-n solar cell device with n-a-Si/i-(Si QDs/SiC multilayers)/p-Si structure.

Main Results:

• Formation of Si QDs observed after annealing at 900°C.
• Optical band gap of Si QDs/SiC multilayers determined to be 1.48 eV.
• A solar cell device achieved an open circuit voltage of 532 mV and a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.28%.

Conclusions:

• Annealing of amorphous Si/SiC multilayers effectively produces Si QDs.
• The fabricated Si QDs/SiC multilayers exhibit suitable optical properties for solar cell applications.
• The developed p-i-n solar cell demonstrates viable performance with potential for further optimization.