Abstract
In this study, we devised a new concept for the precise nanofabrication of Au-Si fibrous nanostructures using megahertz femtosecond laser irradiation in air and atmospheric pressure conditions. The weblike fibrous nanostructures of Au thin layer on silicon substrate, which are proposed for the application of solar cells, exhibit a specific improvement of the optical properties in visible wavelength. Varying numbers of laser interaction pulses were used to control the synthesis of the nanofibrous structures. Electron microscopy analysis revealed that the nanostructures are formed due to the aggregation of polycrystalline nanoparticles of the respective constituent materials with diameters varying between 30 and 90 nm. Measurement of the reflectance through a spectroradiometer showed that the coupling of incident electromagnetic irradiation was greatly improved over the broadband wavelength range. Lower reflectance intensity was obtained with a higher number of laser pulses due to the bulk of gold nanoparticles being agglomerated by the mechanism of fusion. This forms interweaving fibrous nanostructures which reveal a certain degree of assembly.PACS81.05.Zx; 81.07.-b
Highlights
Manufacturing solar cells with an easy processing and inexpensive material has become the most important challenge for the future
The benefit of nanowires, nanotubes, and nanorods is the improvement of current densities because the diffusion length of minority carriers is much shorter than the thickness of the material required for optimal light absorption [7]
The laser-irradiated samples were characterized by scanning electrical microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and energydispersive X-ray (EDX) analyses
Summary
Manufacturing solar cells with an easy processing and inexpensive material has become the most important challenge for the future. Several articles focused on the enhancement of the spectral absorbance by modification of materials, improvement in electron-hole transport [1], and the usage of alternative wide-band-gap semiconductor materials [2]. Nanostructured material-based solar cells have attracted interest due to their characteristics and processing benefits. Nanotubes, and nanorods which enable solar cells in decoupling light absorption from the direction of carrier transport have been studied by many researchers [3,4,5,6]. The benefit of nanowires, nanotubes, and nanorods is the improvement of current densities because the diffusion length of minority carriers is much shorter than the thickness of the material required for optimal light absorption [7]. Due to the high optical properties of nanoparticles, further research is being carried out on nanoparticle-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) [8,9,10]
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