GaAs Truncated Cone Nanowire Array-Based Solar Cells with Carrier Selective Contacts

Recent advancements in solar cell technology have unveiled the potential of nanowire (NW) structures, particularly those incorporating III-V materials, for enhanced light absorption and reduced material consumption compared to traditional planar designs. Our research introduces a novel core-shell heterojunction design featuring a p-type GaAs truncated cone NW core and ShN<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">4</inf>/TiO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> shell. In this study, the short-circuit current density (J<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">sc</inf>), open-circuit voltage (V<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">oc</inf>), power conversion efficiency (PCE) and fill factor (FF) are evaluated to determine the optoelectronic performance of the investigated NWs. Through comprehensive simulations, it has been demonstrated that the optimized structure significantly reduces optical losses and improves minority carrier transport, achieving a power efficiency of 22.487% with an enhancement of 49.74% over conventional truncated cone NWs. This innovative approach yielded a short circuit current density of 26.45 mA/cm2, marking a significant advancement in radial junction NW solar cells.