Titania-germanium nanocomposite as a photovoltaic material

Titania-germanium (TiO2-Ge) nanocomposite, which comprises Ge nanodots in the TiO2 matrix, is an interesting optoelectronic material. We can easily tailor the structural, optical and electronic properties of the nanocomposite thin films in a wide range by customizing the density and size of Ge dots. The promising properties encouraged us to fabricate solar cells with TiO2-Ge nanocomposites. We fabricated p-Si/TiO2-Ge heterojunction solar cells. The preliminary characterizations of these devices show us the promise of TiO2-Ge nanocomposites for the photovoltaic application. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.