Giant photothermoelectric effect in silicon nanoribbon photodetectors

The photoelectric conversion has essential applications in energy and information devices. It is reported that up to 40% of the energy loss comes from heat dissipation and poor light absorption. Chinese and American scientists have successfully realized the giant photothermoelectric effect in silicon nanomaterials, which can harvest the excessive energy of photogenerated hot carriers and is promising for the high-efficiency photovoltaic cells and photodetectors by silicon materials.