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Optical and electrical characteristics of highly efficient flower-shaped silicon nanowires solar cell

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Abstract

This paper introduces and numerically analyzes flower-shaped nanowires (FS-NWs) with improved light harvesting. The optical and electrical characteristics are studied using the finite-difference time-domain and finite-element methods. In this study, the ultimate efficiency (η), optical generation (G), short circuit current density (JSC), open-circuit voltage (Voc), and electrical power conversion efficiency (PCE) are numerically computed. The geometrical parameters of the suggested FS-NWs are tuned to improve the optical absorption and hence the ultimate efficiency. The FS-NWs show higher absorption than the conventional cylindrical NWs (CC-NWs) due to the multiple resonance peaks and higher cross-section scattering in the high photon energy band. The reported FS-NWs provide an optical efficiency (η) of 35.6%, with an improvement of 11.4% over CC-NWs. This is due to the capability of the FS-NWs to trap more photons and generate more supported modes through the active absorbing layer. The reported design with axial doping junction offers an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.68 V, short circuit current density (JSC) of 18.68 mA/cm2, and PCE of 9.6%, which are better than that of CC-NWs with Voc of 0.70 V, JSC of 17.88 mA/cm2, and PCE of 8.68%.

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Funding

The authors acknowledge the financial support by the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) at Egypt under the South Africa-Egypt Cooperation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Photonics and Smart Materials, Zewail City of Science and Technology, October Gardens, 6th of October City, Giza, 12578, Egypt

    Amr Hisham K. Mahmoud, Mohamed Farhat O. Hameed, Mohamed Hussein & S. S. A. Obayya

  2. Laboratoire Charles Fabry, Institut d’Optique Graduate School, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, 91127, Palaiseau Cedex, France

    Amr Hisham K. Mahmoud

  3. Department of Basic Science, Faculty of Computers and Information Sciences, Ain Shams University, Abbassia, Cairo, 11566, Egypt

    Amr Hisham K. Mahmoud

  4. Faculty of Engineering, University of Mansoura, Mansoura, 35516, Egypt

    Mohamed Farhat O. Hameed & S. S. A. Obayya

  5. Nanotechnology and Nanoelectronics Engineering Program, Zewail City of Science and Technology, October Gardens, 6th of October City, Giza, 12578, Egypt

    Mohamed Farhat O. Hameed

  6. Light Technology Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Engesser Strasse 13, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Mohamed Hussein

  7. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Abbassia, Cairo, 11566, Egypt

    Mohamed Hussein

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  1. Amr Hisham K. Mahmoud
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  2. Mohamed Farhat O. Hameed
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  3. Mohamed Hussein
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  4. S. S. A. Obayya
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Contributions

AHM, MFOH and MH have proposed the idea. AHM has done the simulations of the reported NW. All authors have contributed to the analysis, discussion, writing and revision of the paper.

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Correspondence to Mohamed Farhat O. Hameed or S. S. A. Obayya.

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Mahmoud, A.H.K., Hameed, M.F.O., Hussein, M. et al. Optical and electrical characteristics of highly efficient flower-shaped silicon nanowires solar cell. Opt Quant Electron 55, 341 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-022-04481-2

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