New silicon allotrope could revolution is solar cells
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Sodium atoms can be 'driven off' by heating to leave the new orthorhombic silicon structure © NPG The new Si24 allotrope has an open-framework structure of 5-, 6- and 8-membered sp3-bonded silicon rings © Duck Young Kim New silicon allotrope could revolutionise solar cells A new, direct band gap allotrope of silicon has been synthesised by researchers in the US. It could potentially revolutionise solar cells and light-emitting devices by combining the light absorbency of materials like gallium arsenide with the processing advantages of traditional silicon. The present synthesis is long and expensive, but the researchers think it might be possible to get around this. Silicon is the mainstay of the electronics industry, but the common cubic diamond-structured allotrope has an indirect band gap, which means electrons cannot travel between the valence and conduction bands simply by absorbing or emitting a photon: they also require a phonon to conserve mo