Inorganic nanocomposites of n- and p-type semiconductors: A new type of three-dimensional solar cell

A new approach to the '3D solar-cell concept' is reported. Atomic layer chemical vapor deposition is employed to infiltrate CuInS2 into the pores of nanostructured TiO2. In this way it is possible to obtain a nanometer-scale interpenetrating network between n-type TiO2 and p-type CuInS2. Cells created this way show photovoltaic activity with a maximum monochromatic incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency of 80%.