Coherent light trapping in thin-film photovoltaics

Mallick, Shrestha Basu; Sergeant, Nicholas P.; Agrawal, Mukul; Lee, Jung‐Yong; Peumans, Peter

doi:10.1557/mrs.2011.113

Cited by 86 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 111 publications

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“…However, the low-energy photons suffer from short optical paths that ultimately cause low spectral uptake in the cells near the material's bandedge. [1][2][3] Consequently, efficient light-trapping mechanisms are necessary to obtain comparable performance from thin-film solar cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Light management through guided-mode resonances in thin-film silicon solar cells

Khaleque

Magnusson

2014

J. Nanophoton

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Abstract. We theoretically explain and experimentally demonstrate light trapping in thin-film solar cells through guided-mode resonance (GMR) effects. Resonant field enhancement and propagation path elongation lead to enhanced solar absorption. We fabricate nanopatterned solar cells containing embedded 300-nm period, one-dimensional gratings. The grating pattern is fabricated on a glass substrate using laser interference lithography followed by a transparent conducting oxide coating as a top contact. A ∼320-nm thick p-i-n hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cell is deposited over the patterned substrate followed by bottom contact deposition. We measure optical and electrical properties of the resonant solar cells. Compared to a planar reference solar cell, around 35% integrated absorption enhancement is observed over the 450 to 750-nm wavelength range. This light-management method results in enhanced short-circuit current density of 14.8 mA∕cm 2 , which is a ∼40% improvement over planar solar cells. Our experimental demonstration proves the potential of simple and well-designed GMR features in thinfilm solar cells. © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Light management through guided-mode resonances in thin-film silicon solar cells

Khaleque

Magnusson

2014

J. Nanophoton

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“…Controlled light absorption is a topic of particular importance for applications such as photovoltaic solar [1] and indoor cells [2] or sensors [3]. In order to decrease the costs and facilitate the integration of those devices, the use of thin layers of active materials is preferred.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this case, the use of resonant optical modes is the key to enhance the absorption [1], since it can simultaneously increase the light path in the absorbing layer and reduce its reflectance. Such modes can typically be introduced into these layers thanks to corrugations such as Photonic Crystals (PhC), which are known to allow a coupling between the incident light and some "guided mode resonances" [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modal approach for tailoring the absorption in a photonic crystal membrane

Peretti

Gomard

Seassal

et al. 2012

Journal of Applied Physics

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In this paper, we propose a method for tailoring the absorption in a photonic crystal membrane. For that purpose, we first applied Time Domain Coupled Mode Theory to such a subwavelength membrane and demonstrated that 100% resonant absorption can be reached even for a symmetric membrane, if degenerate modes are involved. Design rules were then derived from this model in order to tune the absorption. Subsequently, Finite Difference Time Domain simulations were used as a proof of concept and carried out on a low absorbing material (extinction coefficient=10 -2 ) with a high refractive index corresponding to the optical indices of amorphous silicon at around 720 nm. In doing so, 85% resonant absorption was obtained, which is significantly higher than the commonly reported 50% maximum value. Those results were finally analyzed and confronted to theory so as to extend our method to other materials, configurations and applications.

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“…One of the factors that limit the performance of the OSCs is the relatively lower charge carrier mobility of the organic materials, which results in trapping of the photogenerated charge carriers from the junction to the electrodes [9,10]. Hence, the active layer cannot be thick [11][12][13][14], and thicker films cannot help to increase the photocurrent and improve the cell performance despite enhanced absorption of light. The active layer thickness constraint imposed on the bulk heterojunction solar cells therefore makes it imperative to develop innovative ways to enhance absorption in the solar spectral range without increasing the film thickness.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Nanoimprinted Structures on the Performance of Organic Solar Cells

Gill

Ren

et al. 2018

Journal of Nanomaterials

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The effect of nanoimprinted structures on the performance of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells was investigated. The nanostructures were formed over the active layer employing the soft lithographic technique. The measured incident photon-tocurrent efficiency revealed that the nanostructured morphology over the active layer can efficiently enhance both light harvesting and charge carrier collection due to improvement of the absorption of incident light and the buried nanostructured cathode, respectively. The devices prepared with the imprinted nanostructures exhibited significantly higher power conversion efficiencies as compared to those of the control cells.

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Coherent light trapping in thin-film photovoltaics

Abstract: Abstract

Cited by 86 publications

References 111 publications

Light management through guided-mode resonances in thin-film silicon solar cells

Light management through guided-mode resonances in thin-film silicon solar cells

Modal approach for tailoring the absorption in a photonic crystal membrane

Effects of Nanoimprinted Structures on the Performance of Organic Solar Cells

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