Concept and performance of a field-effect amorphous silicon solar cell

We propose a novel solar cell structure based on the concept of forming p or n window layers by the field effect instead of impurity doping, and we verify its performance experimentally. The device, a field-effect amorphous silicon solar cell (FESC), was designed with the aid of a device simulator and fabricated by a plasma chemical vapour deposition system. We have verified that the output current of the FESC was amplified by the field-effect bias application to the gate electrode. The fundamental properties of this new type of amorphous silicon solar cell are demonstrated for the first time.