Schottky junction solar cell

In a basic Schottky-junction (Schottky-barrier) solar cell, an interface between a metal and a semiconductor provides the band bending necessary for charge separation.

[1] Traditional solar cells are composed of p-type and n-type semiconductor layers sandwiched together, forming the source of built-in voltage (a p-n junction).

[3] Although vulnerable to higher rates of thermionic emission, manufacturing of Schottky barrier solar cells proves to be cost-effective and industrially scalable.

[5] The Schottky-junction is an attempt to increase the efficiency of solar cells by introducing an impurity energy level in the band gap.

Although this material does not provide a large power-conversion efficiency as of yet, the advent of simpler fabrication methods show promise in nano-electronic applications.