TY - JOUR
T1 - Single-nanowire solar cells beyond the Shockley-Queisser limit
AU - Krogstrup, Peter
AU - Jørgensen, Henrik Ingerslev
AU - Heiss, Martin
AU - Demichel, Oliver
AU - Holm, Jeppe Vilstrup
AU - Aagesen, Martin
AU - Nygård, Jesper
AU - Fontcuberta i Morral, Anna
PY - 2013/4
Y1 - 2013/4
N2 - Light management is of great importance in photovoltaic cells, as it determines the fraction of incident light entering the device. An optimal p-n junction combined with optimal light absorption can lead to a solar cell efficiency above the Shockley-Queisser limit. Here, we show how this is possible by studying photocurrent generation for a single core-shell p-i-n junction GaAs nanowire solar cell grown on a silicon substrate. At 1 sun illumination, a short-circuit current of 180 mA cm-2 is obtained, which is more than one order of magnitude higher than that predicted from the Lambert-Beer law. The enhanced light absorption is shown to be due to a light-concentrating property of the standing nanowire, as shown by photocurrent maps of the device. The results imply new limits for the maximum efficiency obtainable with III-V based nanowire solar cells under 1 sun illumination.
AB - Light management is of great importance in photovoltaic cells, as it determines the fraction of incident light entering the device. An optimal p-n junction combined with optimal light absorption can lead to a solar cell efficiency above the Shockley-Queisser limit. Here, we show how this is possible by studying photocurrent generation for a single core-shell p-i-n junction GaAs nanowire solar cell grown on a silicon substrate. At 1 sun illumination, a short-circuit current of 180 mA cm-2 is obtained, which is more than one order of magnitude higher than that predicted from the Lambert-Beer law. The enhanced light absorption is shown to be due to a light-concentrating property of the standing nanowire, as shown by photocurrent maps of the device. The results imply new limits for the maximum efficiency obtainable with III-V based nanowire solar cells under 1 sun illumination.
U2 - 10.1038/nphoton.2013.32
DO - 10.1038/nphoton.2013.32
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1749-4885
VL - 7
SP - 306
EP - 310
JO - Nature Photonics
JF - Nature Photonics
IS - 4
ER -