Silicon has long been established as the material of choice for the microelectronics industry. This is not yet true in photonics, where the limited degrees of freedom in material design combined with the indirect bandgap are a major constraint. Recent developments, especially those enabled by nanoscale engineering of the electronic and photonic properties, are starting to change the picture, and some silicon nanostructures now approach or even exceed the performance of equivalent direct-bandgap materials. Focusing on two application areas, namely communications and photovoltaics, we review recent progress in silicon nanocrystals, nanowires and photonic crystals as key examples of functional nanostructures. We assess the state of the art in each field and highlight the challenges that need to be overcome to make silicon a truly high-performing photonic material.

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Silicon nanostructures for photonics and photovoltaics

ConspectusThe notion that light and matter states can be hybridized the way s and p orbitals are mixed is a concept that is not familiar to most chemists and material scientists. Yet it has much potential for molecular and material sciences that is just beginning to be explored. For instance, it has already been demonstrated that the rate and yield of chemical reactions can be modified and that the conductivity of organic semiconductors and nonradiative energy transfer can be enhanced through the hybridization of electronic transitions. The hybridization is not limited to electronic transitions; it can be applied for instance to vibrational transitions to selectively perturb a given bond, opening new possibilities to change the chemical reactivity landscape and to use it as a tool in (bio)molecular science and spectroscopy. Such results are not only the consequence of the new eigenstates and energies generated by the hybridization. The hybrid light–matter states also have unusual properties: they can be d...

Hybrid Light-Matter States in a Molecular and Material Science Perspective.

Black silicon (BSi) represents a very active research area in renewable energy materials. The rise of BSi as a focus of study for its fundamental properties and potentially lucrative practical applications is shown by several recent results ranging from solar cells and light-emitting devices to antibacterial coatings and gas-sensors. In this paper, the common BSi fabrication techniques are first reviewed, including electrochemical HF etching, stain etching, metal-assisted chemical etching, reactive ion etching, laser irradiation and the molten salt Fray-Farthing-Chen-Cambridge (FFC-Cambridge) process. The utilization of BSi as an anti-reflection coating in solar cells is then critically examined and appraised, based upon strategies towards higher efficiency renewable solar energy modules. Methods of incorporating BSi in advanced solar cell architectures and the production of ultra-thin and flexible BSi wafers are also surveyed. Particular attention is given to routes leading to passivated BSi surfaces, which are essential for improving the electrical properties of any devices incorporating BSi, with a special focus on atomic layer deposition of Al2O3. Finally, three potential research directions worth exploring for practical solar cell applications are highlighted, namely, encapsulation effects, the development of micro-nano dual-scale BSi, and the incorporation of BSi into thin solar cells. It is intended that this paper will serve as a useful introduction to this novel material and its properties, and provide a general overview of recent progress in research currently being undertaken for renewable energy applications.

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Black silicon: fabrication methods, properties and solar energy applications

Optical biosensors have exhibited worthwhile performance in detecting biological systems and promoting significant advances in clinical diagnostics, drug discovery, food process control, and environmental monitoring. Without complexity in their pretreatment and probable influence on the nature of target molecules, these biosensors have additional advantages such as high sensitivity, robustness, reliability, and potential to be integrated on a single chip. In this review, the state of the art optical biosensor technologies, including those based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR), optical waveguides, optical resonators, photonic crystals, and optical fibers, are presented. The principles for each type of biosensor are concisely introduced and particular emphasis has been placed on recent achievements. The strengths and weaknesses of each type of biosensor have been outlined as well. Concluding remarks regarding the perspectives of future developments are discussed.

Optical biosensors: an exhaustive and comprehensive review.

Elaborating reliable and versatile strategies for efficient light coupling between free space and thin films is of crucial importance for new technologies in energy efficiency. Nanostructured materials have opened unprecedented opportunities for light management, notably in thin-film solar cells. Efficient coherent light trapping has been accomplished through the careful design of plasmonic nanoparticles and gratings, resonant dielectric particles and photonic crystals. Alternative approaches have used randomly textured surfaces as strong light diffusers to benefit from their broadband and wide-angle properties. Here, we propose a new strategy for photon management in thin films that combines both advantages of an efficient trapping due to coherent optical effects and broadband/wide-angle properties due to disorder. Our approach consists of the excitation of electromagnetic modes formed by multiple light scattering and wave interference in two-dimensional random media. We show, by numerical calculations, that the spectral and angular responses of thin films containing disordered photonic patterns are intimately related to the in-plane light transport process and can be tuned through structural correlations. Our findings, which are applicable to all waves, are particularly suited for improving the absorption efficiency of thin-film solar cells and can provide a new approach for high-extraction-efficiency light-emitting diodes.

Photon management in two-dimensional disordered media

Photovoltaic (PV) conversion of solar energy starts to give an appreciable contribution to power generation in many countries, with more than 90% of the global PV market relying on solar cells base...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23746149.2018.1548305

Silicon solar cells: toward the efficiency limits

We theoretically investigate the light-trapping properties of one- and two-dimensional periodic patterns etched on the front surface of c-Si and a-Si thin film solar cells with a silver back reflector and an anti-reflection coating. For each active material and configuration, absorbance A and short-circuit current density Jsc are calculated by means of rigorous coupled wave analysis (RCWA), for different active materials thicknesses in the range of interest of thin film solar cells and in a wide range of geometrical parameters. The results are then compared with Lambertian limits to light-trapping for the case of zero absorption and for the general case of finite absorption in the active material. With a proper optimization, patterns can give substantial absorption enhancement, especially for 2D patterns and for thinner cells. The effects of the photonic patterns on light harvesting are investigated from the optical spectra of the optimized configurations. We focus on the main physical effects of patterning, namely a reduction of reflection losses (better impedance matching conditions), diffraction of light in air or inside the cell, and coupling of incident radiation into quasi-guided optical modes of the structure, which is characteristic of photonic light-trapping.

Photonic light-trapping versus Lambertian limits in thin film silicon solar cells with 1D and 2D periodic patterns.

We present a theoretical optimisation of 1D apodized grating couplers in a “pure” Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) architecture, i.e. without any bottom reflector element, by means of a general mutative method. We perform a comprehensive 2D Finite Difference Time Domain study of chirped and apodized grating couplers in 220 nm SOI, and demonstrate that the global maximum coupling efficiency in that platform is capped to 65% (−1.9 dB). Moving to designs with thicker Si-layers, we identify a new record design in 340 nm SOI, with a simulated coupling efficiency of 89% (−0.5 dB). Going to thicker Si layers does not further improve the efficiency, implying that −0.5 dB may be a global maximum for a grating coupler in SOI without a bottom-reflector. Even after allowing for 193 nm UV-lithographic fabrication constraints, the 340 nm design still offers −0.7 dB efficiency. These new apodized designs are the first pure SOI couplers compatible with deep-UV lithography to offer better than −1 dB insertion losses. With only very minor changes to existing deposition and lithography recipes, they are compatible with the multi-project wafer runs already offered by Si-Photonics foundries.

Optimising apodized grating couplers in a pure SOI platform to -0.5 dB coupling efficiency.

We theoretically investigate light trapping with disordered 1D photonic structures in thin-film crystalline silicon solar cells. The disorder is modelled in a finite-size supercell, which allows the use of rigorous coupled-wave analysis to calculate the optical properties of the devices and the short-circuit current density Jsc. The role of the Fourier transform of the photonic pattern in the light trapping is investigated, and the optimal correlation between size and position disorder is found. This result is used to optimize the disorder in a more effective way, using a single parameter. We find that a Gaussian disorder always enhances the device performance with respect to the best ordered configuration. To properly quantify this improvement, we calculate the Lambertian limit to the absorption enhancement for 1D photonic structures in crystalline silicon, following the previous work for the 2D case [M.A. Green, Progr. Photovolt: Res. Appl. 2002; 10(4), pp. 235–241]. We find that disorder optimization can give a relevant contribution to approach this limit. Finally, we propose an optimal disordered 2D configuration and estimate the maximum short-circuit current that can be achieved, potentially leading to efficiencies that are comparable with the values of other thin-film solar cell technologies. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Broadband light trapping with disordered photonic structures in thin‐film silicon solar cells

In this review we present the state of the art and the most recent advances in the field of optical sensing with hybrid plasmonic–photonic whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonators. After a brief introduction on the basic physics behind photonic WGM resonators and localized surface plasmon (LSP) nanostructures, we analyze the different types of optical sensors specifically designed for bulk refractive index sensing, molecular binding and single object detection. We point out the physical and technological key points of the different approaches proposed in the literature, and we systematically compare hybrid sensors and purely photonic WGM sensors. This comparative analysis points out the real advantages brought by LSP nanostructures, and it identifies the most promising hybrid architectures.

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Angelo Bozzola

Papers

Silicon solar cells: toward the efficiency limits

Photonic light-trapping versus Lambertian limits in thin film silicon solar cells with 1D and 2D periodic patterns.

Optimising apodized grating couplers in a pure SOI platform to -0.5 dB coupling efficiency.

Broadband light trapping with disordered photonic structures in thin‐film silicon solar cells

Hybrid plasmonic–photonic whispering gallery mode resonators for sensing: a critical review