Members: Sheli Muzafe Reiss

Supervisor: Prof. Yossi Paltiel

The silicon PN junction is the foundation of solar cell technology. Silicon solar cells are the most common type of solar cells today, used to generate green energy. The aim of my project is to combine a chiral material with a PN junction that will function as a solar cell, to improve its efficiency - meaning the amount of energy that can be obtained from it. Chiral molecules exhibit the Chiral Induced Spin Selectivity (CISS) effect, where they function as spin filters. This means that particles with different spins pass through these molecules at different rates. This property makes chiral materials promising for improving charge separation in solar cells. When sunlight excites an electron and a hole, these charge carriers have opposite spins. The CISS effect can help keep them apart more effectively, enhancing the efficiency of the solar cell. The main stages of my project are designing and simulating the PN junction; fabricating a junction at the nanoscale; and electrical characterization under illumination, with and without the chiral layer. The fabrication process is now almost complete.