An international research team led by researchers at The Australian National University (ANU), including ARC Future Fellowship recipient, Professor Jodie Bradby, has made a new type of silicon that better uses sunlight and promises to cut the cost of solar technology.
Silicon is a preferred raw material for solar cells due to its abundance, low cost and non-toxicity, even though the standard form of silicon used in solar cells cannot make use of all the available solar energy.
The researchers discovered that by simply prodding the silicon with a microscopic hard tip, they could change its crystal form into something more efficient. The new type of silicon is called r8-Si. Instead of the atoms being square or cubic, as in standard silicon, they form a complex shape, like a diamond in 3D.
Discovered while exploring a little-known property of silicon—its ability to exist in different crystal forms—the researchers say their world-first invention could help reduce the costs of renewable electricity through more efficient solar cells.
The team is now using a unique high-pressure facility at the ANU to develop ways of making enough material to produce a prototype solar cell, which will enable them to measure exactly how the new silicon absorbs light and behaves electrically.
Image: Dr Sherman Wong worked on the study of the new type of silicon for his PhD at ANU. Credit: ANU.