Abstract

After doping silicon well above the solubility limit with selenium atoms using femto-second laser pulses, we observe strong absorption of photons below the band gap of silicon. This enhanced absorption allows the possibility of increasing the photocurrent and the efficiency of silicon solar cells. We use synchrotron-based X-ray absorption spectroscopy to probe the chemical state of selenium to understand the materials unique absorption properties. Article not available.

© 2009 Optical Society of America