Advances in Carbon Nanotube-Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

Heterojunctions of carbon nanotubes interfaced with silicon respond to light illumination and can be operated in the power regime as solar cells. Very significant advances have been made in the last 5 years both in terms of headline performance values and in fundamental understanding of the underlying operating principles, as well as the sophistication of the devices and studies being reported. The body of literature is growing rapidly, and the latest power conversion efficiency and active area records have now reached over 17% and 2 cm(2), respectively. Thus, the authors believe that it is now a useful time for an evaluation of the current state-of-the-art and challenges going forward, as well as for a comprehensively updated review of progress made in the field. In addition, the authors provide a summary of the various fabrication schemes that have been used, analysis of some of the major device structure-property relationships revealed by comparison of published works, and a thorough breakdown of the various factors involved in improving performance, as well as a critical assessment of the real opportunities that may exist for this technology in the context of the wider silicon photovoltaics industry.