GaAs nanocone array-based hybrid solar cells with excellent light-trapping capabilities and enhanced photogeneration rate

III-V semiconductor nanostructures with subwavelength scale dimensions have demonstrated outstanding photon trapping and carrier transport characteristics, and may be coupled readily with organic polymers and cheap substrates to create hybrid solar cells (HSCs). In this work, we have presented a comprehensive optoelectronic study of Poly(3-hexylthiophene): [6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methylester (P3HT:PCBM)/Gallium arsenide (GaAs) nanocone (NC) array based HSC and compared its overall performance with its organic counterpart and other nanostructure arrays. The proposed P3HT:PCBM/GaAs NC HSC has exhibited an average absorptance of 71.63% with a remarkable optical J (sc) and generation rate of 24.21 mA cm(-2) and 5.26 x 10(28) cm(-3)s(-1), respectively, which are highest among all the other structures. Additionally, we have presented the optical performance of the HSC for oblique incident conditions and reported that the proposed HSC can exhibit an average optical J (sc) of 21.04 mA cm(-2) when averaged over all angles of incidence. The electrical simulations reveal that, the proposed device can exhibit a power conversion efficiency of 17%, even at low carrier mobility (mu), lifetimes (tau), and high surface recombination velocity at contacts.

Automated summary

In this study, a comprehensive optoelectronic analysis of a hybrid solar cell based on P3HT:PCBM/GaAs nanocone arrays was conducted. The results showed that the proposed hybrid solar cell exhibited high absorptance and photocurrent density, and maintained good performance under oblique incident conditions.