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Type: 
Conference
Description: 
The realization of crystalline silicon tandem solar cells relies on silicon nanocrystal (Si NC) quantum dots as the absorber of the top solar cell. Quantum confinement of charge carriers within the nanocrystals permits to achieve a band gap up to 2 eV which can be adjusted according to the size of the nanocrystals. This enables the construction of all-crystalline Si tandem solar cells, and increases the theoretical efficiency limit from 33 % to 42.5 % due to the addition of a second band gap. In this work, the electrical and photovoltaic properties of Si NC films are assessed and the most prominent material systems (SiO2, Si3N4, SiC) are compared. P-i-n solar cells are presented which feature Si NC as the intrinsic absorber layer and permit to characterize quantum confinement electrically on device level. P-i-n solar cells with Si NC in SiC in the i-region have yielded open circuit voltages of up to 370mV.
Publisher: 
27th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition
Publication date: 
1 Jan 2012
Authors: 

P Loper, Marica Canino, Julian Lopez Vidrier, Manuel Schnabel, Anke Witzky, Michele Belletato, Marco Allegrezza, Daniel Hiller, Andreas Hartel, Sebastian Gutsch, Sergi Hernández, Roberto Guerra, Stefano Ossicini, Blas Garrido, Stefan Janz, Margit Zacharias

Biblio References: 
Pages: 35-40
Origin: 
27th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition