Multi-Carrier Generation in Organic-Passivated Black Silicon Solar Cells with Industrially Feasible Processes.
Xin ZhouLu WanHan LiXueliang YangJingwei ChenKunpeng GeJun YanCuili ZhangQing GaoXuning ZhangJianxin GuoFeng LiJianming WangDengyuan SongShufang WangBenjamin S FlavelJianhui ChenPublished in: Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) (2022)
The innate inverse Auger effect within bulk silicon can result in multiple carrier generation. Observation of this effect is reliant upon low high-energy photon reflectance and high-quality surface passivation. In the photovoltaics industry, metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) to afford black silicon (b-Si) can provide a low high-energy photon reflectance. However, an industrially feasible and cheaper technology to conformally passivate the outer-shell defects of these nanowires is currently lacking. Here, a technology is introduced to infiltrate black silicon nanopores with a simple and vacuum-free organic passivation layer that affords millisecond-level minority carrier lifetimes and matches perfectly with existing solution-based processing of the MACE black silicon. Advancements such as the demonstration of an excellent passivation effect whilst also being low reflectance provide a new technological route for inverse Auger multiple carrier generation and an industrially feasible technical scheme for the development of the MACE b-Si solar cells.