Enhancement of polycrystalline silicon solar cells using ultrathin films of silicon nanoparticle

Ultrathin films of highly monodispersed luminescent Si nanoparticles are directly integrated on polycrystalline Si solar cells. The authors monitor the open-circuit voltage and the short circuit current. The results demonstrate that films of 1 nm blue luminescent or 2.85 nm red luminescent Si nanoparticles produce large voltage enhancements with improved power performance of 60% in the UV/blue range. In the visible, the enhancements are similar to 10% for the red and similar to 3% for the blue particles. The results point to a significant role for charge resonant transport across the nanofilm and Schottky-like rectification at nanoparticle-metal interface. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.