0000000000859027
AUTHOR
Reinhard Carius
Structural and electronic properties ofβ-FeSi2nanoparticles: The role of stacking fault domains
We use conventional and aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and ab initio calculations to investigate the structural and electronic properties of \ensuremath{\beta}-FeSi${}_{2}$ nanoparticles, which are a promising material for photovoltaic applications due to a band gap of 1 eV and a high absorption coefficient. The nanoparticles have average sizes of \ensuremath{\sim}20 nm, form aggregates, and are prepared by gas-phase synthesis. Amorphous SiO${}_{x}$ shells with thicknesses of \ensuremath{\sim}1.7 nm around \ensuremath{\beta}-FeSi${}_{2}$ cores are identified on individual nanoparticles using electron energy-loss spectroscopy, while stacking fault domains in the …
Three-dimensional photonic crystal intermediate reflectors for enhanced light-trapping in tandem solar cells
A three-dimensional photonic crystal intermediate reflector for enhanced light trapping in tandem solar cells is presented. The intermediate reflector consists of a transparent and conductive ZnO:Al inverted opal sandwiched in between the top amorphous silicon and bottom microcrystalline silicon cell.
Photonic crystal intermediate reflector in micromorph tandem solar cells
Experimental and numerical evidences are presented which show that the efficiency of silicon based tandem solar-cells can be increased by incorporating a three-dimensional photonic crystal as an intermediate reflector.
3D photonic crystal intermediate reflector for micromorph thin-film tandem solar cell
The concept of 3D photonic intermediate reflectors for micromorph silicon tandem solar cells has been investigated. In thin-film silicon tandem solar cells consisting of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon with two junctions of a-Si/μc-Si, efficiency enhancements can be achieved by increasing the current density in the a-Si top cell. It is one goal to provide an optimized current matching at high current densities. For an ideal photon-management between top and bottom cell, a spectrally selective intermediate reflective layer (IRL) is necessary, which is less dependent of the angle of incidence than state-of-the-art thickness dependent massive interlayers. The design, preparation and cha…