Nanodipole photovoltaics

We propose a principle of photovoltaics utilizing the built-in electric field generated by aligned nanosize dipoles in a semiconductive host, either polymer or liquid, or amorphous, or polycrystalline. Such dipoles are readily found with the wurtzite CdS, CdSe, and some other nanoparticles. We show that their generated field can be uniform and strong enough, similar to 3x10(4) V/cm, to separate electron-hole pairs and run significant drift currents. Our suggested structure does not rely on p-n or Schottky junctions and can be tunable in a broad range of parameters. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.