Fabrication and Characterization of Small Scale Photo-Electro-Chemical Solar Cells

<p>This thesis presents fabrication and characterization of a small scale photoelectro-chemical (PEC) solar cell.</p> <p>The cell consists of a p-type silicon cathode with an etched micro-cavity that houses the zinc chloride electrolyte solution, and the cavity is covered by a sheet of zinc acting as the anode. The cell operates using a semiconductor-electrolyte junction instead of the p-n junction of a conventional solid state solar cell. The silicon electrode is fabricated by controlled wet etching so that the bottom of the micro-cavity becomes a very thin membrane, which allows photons to penetrate and reach the semiconductorelectrolyte interface for the generation of excess electron-hole pairs. The separation of the excess charge carriers by the junction built-in electric field results in a photopotential across the semiconductor-electrolyte junction.</p> <p>Silicon electrodes with different membrane sizes were successfully fabricated in the Nano-Electro-Mechanical Systems (NEMS) lab at the University of Denver. The electrical characteristics of the PEC solar cells were obtained and will be discussed in this thesis.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters Thesis

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Li, Xin

Contributors dc:contributor

• Mohammad A. Matin, Ph.D.
• Siavash Pourkamali Anaraki
• Yun Bo Yi
• Vijaya Narapareddy

• Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems
• Microfabrication
• Nano-Electro-Mechanical Systems
• Photoelectrochemical
• Solar cell
• Wet etching
• Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Engineering

Statement dc:rights

• <p>Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.</p>

Language dc:language

en

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/375

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.du.edu:etd-1374