Laser pulses crystallize amorphous silicon, create nanostructured surface ideal for solar-cell applications

The importance of silicon for almost every element in modern-day electronic devices and computers is due largely to its crystalline atomic structure. Crystalline silicon, however, is much more expensive to produce than its non-crystalline or amorphous form, which has limited the cost reduction achievable in devices such as silicon-based solar cells. Xincai Wang at the A*STAR Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology and co-workers have now shown that ultrafast pulses of light can be used to crystallize amorphous silicon and to texture its surface.

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