Dresden 2017 – scientific programme

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HL: Fachverband Halbleiterphysik

HL 90: Inhomogeneous Materials for Solar Cells

HL 90.6: Talk

Friday, March 24, 2017, 12:45–13:00, POT 81

Intermediate gap states in core/shell nanoparticles for solar energy conversion — •Musa Alaydrus¹, Marton Vörös², Gergely Zimanyi³, and Stefan Wippermann¹ — ¹Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung, Düsseldorf, Germany — ²Argonne National Lab, Chicago, USA — ³University of California, Davis, USA

Multi-exciton generation (MEG) and intermediate band (IB) transitions in semiconducting nanoparticles (NPs) are promising paths towards surpassing the Shockley-Queisser limit in solar energy conversion devices. Recent studies demonstrate MEG to be more efficient in NPs than in the bulk. However, quantum confinement effects believed to be responsible for efficient MEG in NPs, also increase their optical gap, swiftly shifting the MEG threshold beyond the solar spectrum. We propose to introduce intermediate states inside the gap to lower the optical absorption threshold and possibly provide additional pathways for multi-exciton processes at energies lower than the fundamental NP gap. We investigate the formation of such intermediate states in core/shell NPs from first principles.