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Well-aligned Vertically Oriented ZnO Nanorod Arrays and their Application in Inverted Small Molecule Solar Cells
Published on: April 25, 2018
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Lattice-mismatched and twisted multi-layered materials for efficient solar cells.
1Department of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4350, United States of America.
Summary
Atomically-thin layered materials offer enhanced solar absorption. Novel solar cell designs utilizing these structures show significant efficiency gains through impact ionization, especially under concentrated sunlight.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Photovoltaics
Background:
- Bulk materials have limitations in broad-spectrum solar absorption.
- Alternating-layer structures of mismatched or twisted atomically-thin layers present unique electronic properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the photovoltaic efficiency of alternating-layer structures.
- To model solar cells based on band-split minibands and minigaps.
Main Methods:
- Extended the Shockley-Queisser approach for photovoltaic efficiency calculations.
- Modeled band structures with minibands (bandwidth ΔE) and minigaps (δG).
Main Results:
- Significant efficiency enhancement observed due to impact ionization.
- Efficiency increases notably in the limit of small, non-zero minigaps (δG).
- Dramatic efficiency increase under fully concentrated sunlight.
Conclusions:
- Alternating-layer structures are more efficient solar absorbers than bulk materials.
- Impact ionization in these engineered band structures boosts photovoltaic performance.
- Optimized layered materials hold promise for advanced solar cell technologies.
