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6669600 
Journal Article 
Influence of the silicon surface treatment on the properties of SiNWs/PVK hybrid solar cells 
Ben Dkhil, S; Ebdelli, R; Bourguiga, R; Davenas, J; Cornu, D; , 
2012 
Synthetic Metals
ISSN: 0379-6779 
ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA 
LAUSANNE 
1120-1125 
In this work, we have studied hybrid solar cells based on the polymer, poly (N-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) and silicon nanowires (SiNWs). The nanowires were treated with a fluorhydric acid solution to eliminate the oxide overlayer. The photovoltaic parameters of a set of bulk heterojunction solar cells were determined by IV-characterization and their morphology was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The hybrid layer of HF-treated SiNWs and PVK. results in cell performance improvement in respect to a reference cell based on the as produced SiNWs. The improved device photovoltaic performance can be attributed to the improvement of the nanoscale morphology which can strongly affect the transport pathways for free charges and to a more efficient charge transfers from the polymer to SiNWs after elimination of the oxide overlayer. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.