The photothermoelectric (PTE) effect enables efficient harvesting of the energy of photogenerated hot carriers and is a promising choice for high-efficiency photoelectric energy conversion and photodetection. Recently, the PTE effect was reported in low-dimensional nanomaterials, suggesting the possibility of optimizing their energy conversion efficiency. Unfortunately, the PTE effect becomes extremely inefficient in low-dimensional nanomaterials, owing to intrinsic disadvantages, such as low optical absorption and immature fabrication methods. In this study, a giant PTE effect was observed in lightly doped p-type silicon nanoribbons caused by photogenerated hot carriers. The open-circuit photovoltage responsivity of the device was 3-4 orders of magnitude higher than those of previously reported PTE devices. The measured photovoltage responses fit very well with the proposed photothermoelectric multiphysics models. This research proposes an application of the PTE effect and a possible method for utilizing hot carriers in semiconductors to significantly improve their photoelectric conversion efficiency.

光热电（PTE）效应能够有效收集光生热载流子的能量，是高效光电能量转换和光电检测的有希望的选择。最近，低维纳米材料中报道了 PTE 效应，这表明优化其能量转换效率的可能性。不幸的是，由于光吸收低和制造方法不成熟等固有缺点，PTE 效应在低维纳米材料中变得极其低效。在这项研究中，在轻掺杂p型硅纳米带中观察到由光生热载流子引起的巨大PTE效应。该器件的开路光电压响应度比之前报道的 PTE 器件高 3-4 个数量级。测量的光电压响应与提出的光热电多物理场模型非常吻合。这项研究提出了PTE效应的应用以及利用半导体中的热载流子来显着提高其光电转换效率的可能方法。