Understanding the Origin of the Low Performance of Chemically Grown Silicon Nanowires for Solar Energy Conversion

Wired: Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (ESI) reveals that high energy-conversion efficiencies are attainable on vertically aligned Si nanowires obtained by electroless etching (see picture). The key reason for the low performance of chemically grown Si nanowires lies in the mid-gap traps as a result of growth chemistry.