Hybrid solar cells with vertically aligned CdTe nanorods and a conjugated polymer

Abstract

Vertically aligned CdTe nanorods were fabricated by electrodeposition and were applied for the active layer of solar cells after being combined with poly(3-octylthiophene) (P3OT), a conjugated polymer. The electrodeposited CdTe showed an $n$ -type behavior with the electric resistivity and the electron density of $2\times {10}^6\Omega \mathrm{cm}$ , $1.3\times {10}^{10}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-3}$ , respectively. Quantum efficiency curve of the hybrid solar cells exhibited a peak at the same wavelength as the optical absorption for CdTe nanorods. The hybrid solar cells demonstrated a power conversion efficiency of 1.06%, whereas the efficiency was only 0.0006% without the nanorods.