Enhancement of broadband optical absorption in photovoltaic devices by band-edge effect of photonic crystals
TLDR
It is shown that multiple photonic band-edge modes can be produced by higher order modes in the vertical direction of the Si photovoltaic layer, which can enhance the absorption on multiple wavelengths.Abstract:
We numerically investigate broadband optical absorption enhancement in thin, 400-nm thick microcrystalline silicon (µc-Si) photovoltaic devices by photonic crystals (PCs). We realize absorption enhancement by coupling the light from the free space to the large area resonant modes at the photonic band-edge induced by the photonic crystals. We show that multiple photonic band-edge modes can be produced by higher order modes in the vertical direction of the Si photovoltaic layer, which can enhance the absorption on multiple wavelengths. Moreover, we reveal that the photonic superlattice structure can produce more photonic band-edge modes that lead to further optical absorption. The absorption average in wavelengths of 500-1000 nm weighted to the solar spectrum (AM 1.5) increases almost twice: from 33% without photonic crystal to 58% with a 4 × 4 period superlattice photonic crystal; our result outperforms the Lambertian textured structure.read more
Citations
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Dependence of the defect mode with temperature, pressure and angle of incidence in a 1D semiconductor-superconductor photonic crystal
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of temperature, hydrostatic pressure, and angle of incidence on the defect mode in a one-dimensional photonic crystal composed of alternating layers of a semiconductor and a superconductor with a high critical temperature were studied.
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Adjustable optical response of amorphous silicon nanowires integrated with thin films.
Navneet Dhindsa,Jaspreet Walia,Minoli Pathirane,Iman Khodadad,William S. Wong,Simarjeet S. Saini +5 more
TL;DR: The ability to tune the optical response of this material in this fashion makes it a promising platform for high performance photovoltaics, photodetectors and sensors.
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Photonic crystal microcrystalline silicon solar cells
Yoshinori Tanaka,Kenji Ishizaki,Menaka De Zoysa,Takami Umeda,Yosuke Kawamoto,Shoya Fujita,Susumu Noda +6 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a method to incorporate photonic crystal structures into thin-film microcrystalline silicon photovoltaic layers while suppressing undesired defects formed in the microcrystaline silicon was proposed.
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Improved efficiency of ultra-thin µc-Si solar cells with photonic-crystal structures.
TL;DR: This work investigates the improvement of the conversion efficiency of ultra-thin microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) solar cells incorporating photonic-crystal structures, where light absorption is strongly enhanced by the multiple resonant modes in the photonic crystal.
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Progress in thin-film silicon solar cells based on photonic-crystal structures
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review the recent progress in thin-film silicon solar cells with photonic crystals, where absorption enhancement is achieved by using large-area resonant effects in photonic crystal.
References
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Trapping and emission of photons by a single defect in a photonic bandgap structure
TL;DR: In this article, a single defect is created inside a two-dimensional photonic bandgap structure, and photons propagating through a linear waveguide are trapped by the defect, which then emits them to free space.
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Intensity enhancement in textured optical sheets for solar cells
TL;DR: In this article, the authors adopt a statistical mechanical approach toward the optics of textured and inhomogeneous optical sheets and show that the local light intensity in such a medium will tend to be 2 n−2−x times greater than the externally incident light intensity, where n is the local index of refraction in the sheet.
Intensity enhancement in textured optical sheets for solar cells
TL;DR: In this article, the authors adopt a statistical mechanical approach toward the optics of textured and inhomogeneous optical sheets and show that the local light intensity in such a medium will tend to be 2n/sup 2/(x) times greater than the externally incident light intensity, where n(x) is the local index of refraction in the sheet.
Journal ArticleDOI
Thin‐film silicon solar cell technology
Arvind Shah,Horst Schade,Milan Vanecek,Johannes Meier,Evelyne Vallat-Sauvain,Nicolas Wyrsch,Ulrich Kroll,C. Droz,Julien Bailat +8 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the use of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and hydrogenated micro-crystalline silicon (μc-Si-H) thin films (layers), both deposited at low temperatures (200°C) by plasma-assisted chemical vapour deposition (PECVD), from a mixture of silane and hydrogen.
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Improving thin-film crystalline silicon solar cell efficiencies with photonic crystals
TL;DR: Here, a photonic crystal-based light-trapping approach is analyzed and compared to previous approaches for c-Si thin film solar cells, which gives rise to weak absorption of one-third of usable solar photons.