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Effect of an optimal oxide layer on the efficiency of graphene‐silicon Schottky junction solar cell
Author(s) -
Aftab Sikandar,
Iqbal Muhammad Zahir,
Alam Shahid,
Alzaid Meshal
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.6962
Subject(s) - graphene , materials science , work function , kelvin probe force microscope , doping , raman spectroscopy , energy conversion efficiency , schottky barrier , optoelectronics , oxide , dopant , solar cell , nanotechnology , silicon , layer (electronics) , optics , physics , diode , metallurgy , atomic force microscopy
Summary The harvesting of solar energy through silicon/graphene Schottky junction photovoltaic cell has been widely investigated in the last decade but the surface recombination at interface limits the high conversion efficiency. We have demonstrated the utilization of the optimum thickness (1.5 nm) of Al 2 O 3 between the interfaces of graphene and n‐type Si as an interlayer to reduce the surface recombination along with chemical doping of perfluorinated polymeric sulfonic acid (PFSA) is used as a p‐type dopant to modulate the work function of graphene. The Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) analysis revealed that the p‐doping enhances the graphene work function from 4.65 to 4.8 eV. The transport measurements are performed to study the shift in charge neutrality point of graphene. Furthermore, the effect of PFSA doping on graphene is also confirmed through Raman spectroscopy. The maximum value of power conversion efficiency (PCE) was found to be 13.52% (100 mW cm −2 , AM 1.5) by introducing an optimal oxide layer and PFSA doping. The device exhibits the photoresponsivity of 0.10 AW −1 . We believe that our findings will provide a route toward the development of new photovoltaic (PV) cells.