Growth of high-quality GaN nanowires on p-Si (111) and their performance in solid state heterojunction solar cells

•Optimized CVD growth of catalyst-freeGaN nanowires (NWs)/p-Si heterojunctions.•NH3 gas flow rate determined the morphology, crystal structure, and composition.•Raman and XRD analyses revealed lower internal stress in the prepared NWs.•The η of the devices varies with the NH3 flow rate used in the s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Solar energy 2021-10, Vol.227, p.525-531
Main Authors: Saron, K.M.A., Ibrahim, M., Taha, T.A., Aljameel, A.I., Alharbi, Abdullah G., Alenad, Asma M., Alshammari, Basheer A., Almutairi, Ghzzai N., Allam, Nageh K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ammonia
Catalysts
Chemical vapor deposition
Flow rates
Flow velocity
Gallium nitrides
GaN
Gas flow
Growth
Heterojunction
Heterojunctions
Morphology
Nanotechnology
Nanowires
Photoluminescence
Photons
Photovoltaic cells
Photovoltaics
Residual stress
Solar cell
Solar cells
Solar energy
Vapors
X-ray diffraction
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Summary:•Optimized CVD growth of catalyst-freeGaN nanowires (NWs)/p-Si heterojunctions.•NH3 gas flow rate determined the morphology, crystal structure, and composition.•Raman and XRD analyses revealed lower internal stress in the prepared NWs.•The η of the devices varies with the NH3 flow rate used in the synthesis of GaN NWs.•The n-GaN NWs/p-Si solar cells revealed a maximum η of ∼7.87%. We report on the optimized growth of catalyst-freeGaN nanowires (NWs)/p-Si by the vapor–solid (V-S) method using chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The effect of NH3 gas flow rate on the morphology and photovoltaic behavior of the material has been investigated. The length and the diameter of the NWs decrease as the NH3 flow rate increases. Raman and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses reveal lower internal stress in the prepared NWs. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra indicate strong near band-edge (NBE) peaks extending from 365 to 368 nm and their intensity varied significantly with the NH3 flow rate. The assembled n-GaN NWs/p-Si solar cell devices reveal a maximum conversion efficiency of ∼7.87% under AM 1.5G illumination. This study shows that the morphology, optical, and performance of the fabricated n-GaN NWs on p-Si are strongly affected by the gas flow rate.
ISSN:0038-092X
1471-1257
DOI:10.1016/j.solener.2021.09.045