ABSTRACT
In the past few years, there has been an enormous and growing interest in the development of nanostructure materials to improve the light harvesting efficiency for achieving high-efficiency silicon (Si) solar cells while maintaining low cost. Feasible silicon nanostructures such as silicon nanowires (SiNWs) and silicon nanoholes (SiNHs) have gained much attention due to their unique properties and possible applications in the fields of nanoelectronics, nanooptoelectronics, nanophotovolatics, and for sensor applications. This chapter demonstrates an alternative way by using simple and chemical processes to obtain a silicon nanostalagmite structure on glass/indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate. This remarkable property suggests that silicon nanostalagmite array (SiNS) arrays are an appropriate candidate for antireflective surfaces and absorption materials used in photovoltaic cells. Further reducing the diameter and spacing of the polystyrene (PS) spheres in the template could produce SiNWs with larger surface areas, which could enhance the photogenerated carrier collection efficiency in solar cells.
