Electrical and optical characteristics of silicon nanocrystal solar cells

We investigated the relationship between the absorption in silicon nanocrystals (Si NCs) and the photocurrent of Si NC solar cells. Here, the absorption of Si NCs in the blue and green light regions was enhanced by up to 14 times compared to bulk Si. In addition, the photocurrent in Si NC solar cells was found to originate from absorption in the Si NCs. The photocurrent of the Si NC solar cells, however, was smaller than the predicted value due to the slow carrier transport in the silicon nitride film containing the Si NCs. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3242030]