Carrier Multiplication in Silicon Nanocrystals: Theoretical Methodologies and Role of the Passivation

Abstract: Carrier multiplication is a non-radiative recombination mechanism that leads to the generation of two or more electron-hole pairs after absorption of a single photon. By reducing the occurrence of dissipative effects, this process can be exploited to increase solar cell performance. In this work we introduce two different theoretical fully ab-initio tools that can be adopted to study carrier multiplication in nanocrystals. The tools are described in detail and compared. Subsequently we calculate carrier multiplication lifetimes in H- and OH- terminated silicon nanocrystals, pointed out the role played by the passivation on the carrier multiplication processes.