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Researchers have developed a new hybrid device -- pairing silicon with organic, carbon-based molecules -- that can convert blue photons into red photons, paving the way for more efficient solar energy conversion.
Silicon's electronic properties make it a popular choice for a variety of technologies. The material, one of Earth's most abundant, is used to make everything from semiconductors to solar cells. But silicon isn't great at turning light into electricity.
While silicon can convert red photons into electricity just fine, its attempts to convert blue photons, which carry twice as much energy as red photons, yields mostly wasted thermal energy.
For the new device, engineers paired silicon with a carbon-based material called anthracene that converts blue photons into red photons, which the silicon can more easily convert into electricity.
Achieving spin-triplet exciton transfer between silicon and molecular acceptors for photon upconversion$, Nature Chemistry (DOI: doi:10.1038/s41557-019-0385-8)
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Friday December 13 2019, @01:25AM (1 child)
Maybe you get more red photons? Or maybe you just get to use some energy from the blue photons you would otherwise discard completely as heat?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 13 2019, @07:10AM
After reading the article that seems to be the case, or at least something equivalent. The carbon layer absorbs part of the photon's energy as it passes through. The hard part is extracting that stored energy in a usable form. Theoretically this should not only improve efficiency under white light but also increase the life of the silicon layer. Less waste means less heat means less heat damage.