[20p-PB2-1~18] 9.2 Nanowires and Nanoparticles

▲ [20p-PB2-5] Al-Catalyzed Si Nanowire Formations on Pre-Etched and Post-PolishedThin Si Substrates for Photovoltaic Application

〇Wipakorn Jevasuwan¹, Junyi Chen¹, Thiyagu Subramani¹, Ken C. Pradel¹, Toshiaki Takei¹, Ryo Matsumura¹, Naoki Fukata¹ (1.NIMS)

Keywords:Nanowire, Al catalyst, Photovoltaic

Thin silicon (Si) solar cells have been candidates to suppress the Si material consumption and to develop into the flexible devices. Si nanowire (NW) structures on thin Si substrates are promising to improve the potential of light trapping using their unique physical properties. From previous reports, vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth using aluminum (Al) catalyst were proposed to create single-crystalline SiNWs with the resolving of the catalyst contamination problem. The SiNW formations and their solar cell fabrications on both of bulk Si and pre-chemical etched thin Si wafers have been succeeded. However, the conversion efficiency of thin Si solar cells is relatively low owing to surface roughness and uniformity of thin Si substrates. In this study, thin Si samples provided by post-mechanical polishing were applied to demonstrate thin SiNW solar cells. The SiNW formations and solar cell performances on both of pre-etched and post-polished thin Si substrates were investigated.