Photovoltaic nanopillar radial junction diode architecture enhanced by integrating semiconductor quantum dot nanocrystals as light harvesters

We propose and demonstrate colloidal quantum dot hybridized, radial p-n junction based, nanopillar solar cells with photovoltaic performance enhanced by intimately integrating nanocrystals to serve as light harvesting agents around the light trapping pillars. By furnishing Si based nanopillar photovoltaic diodes with CdSe quantum dots, we experimentally showed up to sixfold enhancement in UV responsivity and similar to 13% enhancement in overall solar conversion efficiency. The maximum responsivity enhancement achieved by incorporation of nanocrystals in the nanopillar architecture is found to be spectrally more than four times larger than the responsivity enhancement obtained using planar architecture of the same device. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3485294]