In silicon heterojunction solar cells, the passivation of the crystalline silicon wafer surfaces and fabrication of emitter and back surface field are all performed by intrinsic and doped amorphous silicon thin layers, usually deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). By using in-situ diagnostics during PECVD, it is found that the passivation quality of such layers directl...

Photovoltaic cells use semiconductors to convert sunlight into electrical current and are regarded as a key technology for a sustainable energy supply. Quantum dot-based solar cells have shown great potential as next generation, high performance, low-cost photovoltaics due to the outstanding optoelectronic properties of quantum dots and their multiple exciton generation (MEG) capability. This r...

   Hybrid polyaniline (PANI) based composites incorporating zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanoparticles (NPs) have been synthesized by using chemical oxidation technique. Schottky junction is constructed by depositing Polyaniline-zinc sulfide nanocomposite (PANI-ZnS NCs) on Au electrode. The results were compared with pure polyaniline. The I–V characteristics of the PANI-ZnS NCs hete...

Control of band discontinuities in semiconductor heterostructures may introduce a new important degree of freedom in the design of heterojunction devices and allow independent optimization of carrier injection, carrier confinement and ionization thresholds in high speed and optoelectronic devices. We will review recently proposed methods to microscopically control heterojunction parameters by m...

CdS is an important semiconductor used in optoelectronic devices. Simple techniques for growing CdS nanostructures are thus essential at a low cost. This study presents a novel method for growing single-crystal n-type CdS nanowires on p-type CdTe films by thermal annealing in an H2S/N2 mixed gas flow, which does not require the help of a catalyst or template. The formation process and growth me...

In this work, molecular tuning of metal xanthate precursors is shown to have a marked effect on the heterojunction morphology of hybrid poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT)/CdS blends and, as a result, the photochemical processes and overall performance of in situ fabricated hybrid solar cells. A series of cadmium xanthate complexes is synthesized for use as in situ precursors to cadmium sulf...

Hybrid multi-functional nanomaterials comprising two or more disparate materials have become a powerful approach to obtain advanced materials for environmental remediation applications. In this work, an Ag-Ag2O/TiO2@polypyrrole (Ag/TiO2@PPy) heterojunction has been synthesized by assembling a self-stabilized Ag-Ag2O (p type) semiconductor (denoted as Ag) and polypyrrole (π-conjugated polymer) o...