DIrect Sunlight into CO conversion

In this abstract an overview is presented of research performed in the DISCO project, on the development of a silicon-based high voltage multijunction device for autonomous solar to fuel applications.'

A Stand-Alone Si-Based Porous Photoelectrochemical Cell

Wireless photoelectrochemical (PEC) devices promise easy device fabrication as well as reduced losses. Here, the design and fabrication of a stand-alone ion exchange material-embedded, Si membrane-based, photoelectrochemical cell architecture with micron-sized pores is shown, to overcome the i) pH gradient formation due to long-distance ion...

Improved light trapping in microcrystalline silicon solar cells by plasmonic back reflector with broad angular scattering and low parasitic absorption

We show experimentally that the photocurrent of thin-film hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (?c-Si:H) solar cells can be enhanced by 4.5?mA/cm2 with a plasmonic back reflector (BR). The light trapping performance is improved using plasmonic BR with broader angular scattering and lower parasitic absorption loss through tuning the size of...

Ultrahigh throughput plasma processing of free standing silicon nanocrystals with lognormal size distribution

We demonstrate a method for synthesizing free standing silicon nanocrystals in an argon/silane gas mixture by using a remote expanding thermal plasma. Transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy measurements reveal that the distribution has a bimodal shape consisting of two distinct groups of small and large silicon nanocrystals with...

The role of oxide interlayers in back reflector configurations for amorphous silicon solar cells

Thin oxide interlayers are commonly added to the back reflector of thin-film silicon solar cells to increase their current. To gain more insight in the enhancement mechanism, we tested different back reflector designs consisting of aluminium-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) and/or hydrogenated silicon oxide (SiOx:H) interlayers with different metals ...

Effect of ion bombardment on the a-Si:H based surface passivation of c-Si surfaces

We have found that controlled Ar ion bombardment enhances the degradation of a-Si:H based surface passivation of c-Si surfaces. The decrease in the level of surface passivation is found to be independent on the ion kinetic energy (7–70 eV), but linearly proportional to the ion flux (6×1014–6×1015?ions?cm?2?s?1). This result suggests that the ion...