Thin-film structures can reduce the cost of solar power by using inexpensive substrates and a lower quantity and quality of semiconductor material. However, the resulting short optical path length and minority carrier diffusion length necessitates either a high absorption coefficient or excellent light trapping. Semiconducting nanowire arrays have already been shown to have low reflective losses compared to planar semiconductors, but their light-trapping properties have not been measured. Using optical transmission and photocurrent measurements on thin silicon films, we demonstrate that ordered arrays of silicon nanowires increase the path length of incident solar radiation by up to a factor of 73. This extraordinary light-trapping path length enhancement factor is above the randomized scattering (Lambertian) limit (2n2 ∼ 25 without a back reflector) and is superior to other light-trapping methods. By changing the silicon film thickness and nanowire length, we show that there is a competition between impr...

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Light Trapping in Silicon Nanowire Solar Cells

Hybrid nanostructures composed of semiconductor and plasmonic metal components are receiving extensive attention. They display extraordinary optical characteristics that are derived from the simultaneous existence and close conjunction of localized surface plasmon resonance and semiconduction, as well as the synergistic interactions between the two components. They have been widely studied for photocatalysis, plasmon-enhanced spectroscopy, biotechnology, and solar cells. In this review, the developments in the field of (plasmonic metal)/semiconductor hybrid nanostructures are comprehensively described. The preparation of the hybrid nanostructures is first presented according to the semiconductor type, as well as the nanostructure morphology. The plasmonic properties and the enabled applications of the hybrid nanostructures are then elucidated. Lastly, possible future research in this burgeoning field is discussed.

Metal/Semiconductor Hybrid Nanostructures for Plasmon-Enhanced Applications

We show that short-pulse laser-induced classical ripples on dielectrics, semiconductors, and conductors exhibit a prominent "non-classical" characteristic-in normal incidence the periods are definitely smaller than laser wavelengths, which indicates that the simplified scattering model should be revised. Taking into account the surface plasmons (SPs), we consider that the ripples result from the initial direct SP-laser interference and the subsequent grating-assisted SP-laser coupling. With the model, the period-decreasing phenomenon originates in the admixture of the field-distribution effect and the grating-coupling effect. Further, we propose an approach for obtaining the dielectric constant, electron density, and electron collision time of the high-excited surface. With the derived parameters, the numerical simulations are in good agreement with the experimental results. On the other hand, our results confirm that the surface irradiated by short-pulse laser with damage-threshold fluence should behave metallic, no matter for metal, semiconductor, or dielectric, and the short-pulse laser-induced subwavelength structures should be ascribed to a phenomenon of nano-optics.

Origin of laser-induced near-subwavelength ripples: interference between surface plasmons and incident laser

Most photovoltaic (solar) cells are made from crystalline silicon (c-Si), which has an indirect band gap. This gives rise to weak absorption of one-third of usable solar photons. Therefore, improved light trapping schemes are needed, particularly for c-Si thin film solar cells. Here, a photonic crystal-based light-trapping approach is analyzed and compared to previous approaches. For a solar cell made of a 2 µm thin film of c-Si and a 6 bilayer distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) in the back, power generation can be enhanced by a relative amount of 24.0% by adding a 1D grating, 26.3% by replacing the DBR with a six-period triangular photonic crystal made of air holes in silicon, 31.3% by a DBR plus 2D grating, and 26.5% by replacing it with an eight-period inverse opal photonic crystal.

Improving thin-film crystalline silicon solar cell efficiencies with photonic crystals

We use a rigorous electromagnetic approach to develop a light-trapping theory, which reveals that the standard limit developed by Yablonovitch can be substantially surpassed in nanophotonic regimes, opening new avenues for highly efficient solar cells

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Fundamental limit of nanophotonic light-trapping in solar cells

We present a design optimization of a highly efficient light-trapping structure to significantly increase the efficiency of thin-film crystalline silicon solar cells. The structure consists of an antireflection (AR) coating, a silicon active layer, and a back reflector that combines a diffractive reflection grating with a distributed Bragg reflector. We have demonstrated that with careful design optimization, the presented light-trapping structure can lead to a remarkable cell-efficiency enhancement for the cells with very thin silicon active layers (typically 2.0-10.0 mum) due to the significantly enhanced absorption in the wavelength range of 800-1100 nm. On the other hand, less enhancement has been predicted for much thicker cells (i.e.,>100 mum) due to the limited absorption increase in this wavelength range. According to our simulation, the overall cell efficiency can be doubled for a 2.0-mum-thick cell with light-trapping structure. It is found that the improvement is mainly contributed by the optimized AR coating and diffraction grating with the corresponding relative improvements of 36% and 54%, respectively. The simulation results show that the absolute cell efficiency of a 2.0-mum-thick cell with the optimal light-trapping structure can be as large as 12%.

Design of Highly Efficient Light-Trapping Structures for Thin-Film Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

A solar cell includes a photoactive region that receives light. A photonic crystal is coupled to the photoactive region, wherein the photonic crystal comprises a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) for trapping the light.

Light trapping in thin film solar cells using textured photonic crystal

We have successfully developed a new light-trapping scheme for solar cells that can enhance the optical path length by more than 104 times using a textured photonic crystal structure as a backside reflector. Top-contacted crystalline Si solar cells integrated with the new back reflector were designed, fabricated and characterized. Both external quantum efficiency and power conversion efficiency of the cells have shown significant improvement due to the path length enhancement furnished by the new back reflector despite of the 675 um thick wafers and relatively short minority carrier diffusion length.

New Solar Cells with Novel Light Trapping via Textured Photonic Crystal Back Reflector

A new backside reflector, textured photonic crystal, is introduced into Si thin film solar cells. Scattering matrix method is used to systematically optimize all the parameters of the two components of the backside reflector, grating and distributed Bragg reflector, to achieve the highest power conversion efficiency for a given solar cell thickness. Experimentally, Si-on-insulator solar cells are being fabricated to verify the tremendous efficiency enhancement and optimal design. It is found that while the optimal period and etch depth of the grating, the Bragg wavelength of the distributed Bragg reflector, as well as the antireflection coating thickness all decrease as the cell becomes thinner, the optimum duty cycle of the grating remains almost constant at 0.5. For a 2 μm thick cell, the relative efficiency enhancement can be as high as 52% using the optimized design.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1946427400057183

Lirong Zeng

Papers

Improving thin-film crystalline silicon solar cell efficiencies with photonic crystals

Design of Highly Efficient Light-Trapping Structures for Thin-Film Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

Light trapping in thin film solar cells using textured photonic crystal

New Solar Cells with Novel Light Trapping via Textured Photonic Crystal Back Reflector

Optimization of Textured Photonic Crystal Backside Reflector for Si Thin Film Solar Cells