Heterostructures for Ultra-Efficient

Heterostructures for Ultra-Efficient,travel in xinjiang Ultra-Thin Solar Cells
In their quest for advanced solar cell materials, researchers at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna), Austria, in collaboration with colleagues from Germany and the US, are exploring a new class of materials where single atomic layers are combined to create novel materials with entirely new properties. Computer simulations revealed that layered oxide heterostructures hold great potential for ultra-efficient, ultra-thin solar cells."Recent advances in fabrication technologies make it possible to grow oxides of transition metals such as iron and nickel,china silk road tour layer by layer," explains Professor Karsten Held from the Institute for Solid State Physics at TU Vienna. "The interface between different transition metal oxides allows us to tailor new and unexpected material functionalities." His design for oxide heterostructures-based solar cells represents a noteworthy departure from existing solar technologies.Vertical shaft impact crusher "Standard semiconductors have been tested and improved for decades," Held says. "For a true technological breakthrough we need a new approach or material."
His team observed a remarkable effect: The surfaces of the oxides, which are actually isolators, become metallic when stacked and conduct electrical current. Thus, the scientist can easily extract the charge carriers and create an electrical circuit — no metal wires required that would block some of the light from entering the cell.Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica or siliceous skeletal fragment, as well as varying amounts of Portable crusher, silt and sand sized terrestrial detritus carried in by rivers.Held anticipates the efficiency of this new type of cells to be superior to existing technologies.Solar lamp An ultra-efficient solar device ideally combines several band gaps to harvest as much of the solar spectrum as possible. And the oxide heterostructures allow the scientists to grow different materials with various band gaps, layer by layer. Furthermore, the created electron-hole pair needs to be separated to prevent recombination. "We show that the oxide heterostructures can be designed to have an intrinsic electric field that efficiently separates electrons and holes," Held says. This crucial advantage could contribute to a significant increase in the solar cell's power conversion efficiency.Colleagues at the University of Würzburg, Germany, are currently building and testing the new solar cells made from oxide layers, based on TU Vienna's design. "We need to better understand how the created electrons and holes behave in the intrinsic electric field and whether a single light quantum can create several electron-hole pairs, which would further boost the efficiency of the proposed solar cell," Held concludes.