Aligned Single‐Crystalline Si Nanowire Arrays for Photovoltaic Applications

Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) with desirable axial crystallographic orientations can be readily prepared by a novel chemical-etching technique (see SEM image). The as-synthesized SiNW arrays significantly suppress reflection over the visible-light spectral range and are therefore promising candidates for antireflection coatings of photovoltaic cells despite exhibiting a lower efficiency than non-nanowire-based devices at this stage of development. Since the successful synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs),1 great research interest has been stimulated in various one-dimensional nanostructures for their novel size- and dimensionality-dependent physical properties and their potential applications in nanoscale…