Progress in single crystalline silicon nanowire solar cells

Silicon nanowire carpets were grown from gold nanotemplates by the Vapor Liquid Solid (VLS) process. As substrates silicon wafers, laser crystallized silicon thin films on glass, or TCO on glass were used. The Au nanotemplates act, in a thermal CVD process, as a catalyst to decompose silane at about 500°C. The result is a carpet formed of perfect single crystalline nanowires several 10 to 200 nm in diameter and several μm in length.