Simulation of Solar Cells Employing 2 Dimensional Transition Metal Dichalcogenide – Silicon Front Surfaces

Transition metal dichalcogenides are a promising avenue for fabricating high performance silicon in a simplified manner, by exploiting their two dimensional properties. This paper looks at simulating monolayers of four such materials on silicon, namely molybdenum disulfide and diselenide, and tungsten disulfide and diselenide. Materials parameters determined by density functional theory were used in a semiconductor device simulator, TCAD, to assess the potential performances for solar cells using these layers as a front surface contact layer. Results are presented for molybdenum disulfide on both n and p type silicon, showing a kink in the current-voltage curve already reported in the literature. A potential efficiency of 19.2% is identified for an n type molybdenum disulfide on p type silicon device.