Coaxial silicon nanowires as solar cells and nanoelectronic power sources

Solar cells based on such coaxial nanowires made from silicon have been fabricated. Under a standard one solar equivalent (1-sun) illumination a maximum power output up to 200 pW per nanowire and an apparent energy conversion efficiency of up to 3.4% is achieved. Experiments demonstrate that such silicon nanowire photovoltaic elements can serve as robust power sources in nanoelectronic circuits.