Single Atomically Sharp Lateral Monolayer p-n Heterojunction Solar Cells with Extraordinarily High Power Conversion Efficiency.

Tsai, Meng-Lin; Li, Ming-Yang; Retamal, José Ramón Durán; Lam, Kai-Tak; Lin, Yung-Chang; Suenaga, Kazu; Chen, Lih-Juann; Liang, Gengchiau et al. · Adv Mater · 2017

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The recent development of 2D monolayer lateral semiconductor has created new paradigm to develop p-n heterojunctions. Albeit, the growth methods of these heterostructures typically result in alloy structures at the interface, limiting the development for high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) devices. Here, the PV properties of sequentially grown alloy-free 2D monolayer WSe<sub>2</sub> -MoS<sub>2</sub> lateral p-n heterojunction are explores. The PV devices show an extraordinary power conversion efficiency of 2.56% under AM 1.5G illumination. The large surface active area enables the full exposure of the depletion region, leading to excellent omnidirectional light harvesting characteristic with only 5% reduction of efficiency at incident angles up to 75°. Modeling studies demonstrate the PV devices comply with typical principles, increasing the feasibility for further development. Furthermore, the appropriate electrode-spacing design can lead to environment-independent PV properties. These robust PV properties deriving from the atomically sharp lateral p-n interface can help develop the next-generation photovoltaics.