1 research outputs found
General Considerations for Improving Photovoltage in MetalâInsulatorâSemiconductor Photoanodes
Metalâinsulatorâsemiconductor
(MIS) photoelectrodes
offer a simple alternative to the traditional semiconductorâliquid
junction and the conventional pân junction electrode. Highly
efficient MIS photoanodes require interfacial surface passivating
oxides and high workfunction metals to produce a high photovoltage.
Herein, we investigate and analyze the effect of interfacial oxides
and metal workfunctions on the barrier height and the photovoltage
of a c-Si photoanode. We use two metal components in a bimetal contact
configuration and observe the modulation of the effective barrier
height and the resulting photovoltage as a function of the secondary
outer metal. The photovoltage shows a strong linear dependence by
increasing the inner metal workfunction, with the highest photovoltage
achieved by a MIS photoanode using a platinum inner metal. We also
found that coupling a thin aluminium oxide with an interfacial silicon
oxide and controlling the oxide thickness can significantly improve
the photovoltage of an MIS junction photoanode