Comprehensive analysis of escape-cone losses from luminescent waveguides

McDowall, Stephen; Butler, Tristan; Bain, Edward; Scharnhorst, Kelsey; Patrick, David L.

doi:10.1364/ao.52.001230

Cited by 23 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…For this reason, to allow a fair comparison of our results with previous achievements in the literature, in this study we applied the setup as described in Refs. . The LSC was illuminated perpendicular to its surface by a 1.5 AM global solar simulator (100 mW cm −2 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Considering the normal incidence of the simulated sunlight, we can estimate the fraction of the incident light reflected by the collecting surface as

R = \frac{{(n_{polymer} - n_{air})}^{2}}{{(n_{polymer} + n_{air})}^{2}}

where n polymer and n air are the refractive index of polymer and air, respectively.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Assuming an isotropic emission, P TIR is defined by the solid angle (the so‐called escape cone in Figure e) identified by the critical angle θ C

P_{TIR} = \sqrt{1 - {(\frac{n_{air}}{n_{polymer}})}^{2}} \to P_{TIR} ≅ 72.2 %

…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Absorption Enhancement in “Giant” Core/Alloyed-Shell Quantum Dots for Luminescent Solar Concentrator

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et al. 2016

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Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) can potentially reduce the cost of solar cells by decreasing the photoactive area of the device and boosting the photoconversion efficiency (PCE). This study demonstrates the application of "giant" CdSe/Cd Pb S core/shell quantum dots (QDs) as light harvesters in high performance LSCs with over 1.15% PCE. Pb addition is critical to maximize PCE. First, this study synthesizes "giant" CdSe/Cd Pb S QDs with high quantum yield (40%), narrow size distribution (<10%), and stable photoluminescence in a wide temperature range (100-300 K). Subsequently these thick alloyed-shell QDs are embedded in a polymer matrix, resulting in a highly transparent composite with absorption spectrum covering the range 300-600 nm, and are applied as active material for prototype LSCs. The latter exhibits a 15% enhancement in efficiency with respect to 1% PCE of the pure-CdS-shelled QDs. This study attributes this increase to the contribution of Pb doping. The results demonstrate a straightforward approach to enhance light absorption in "giant" QDs by metal doping, indicating a promising route to broaden the absorption spectrum and increase the efficiency of LSCs.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Considering the normal incidence of the simulated sunlight, we can estimate the fraction of the incident light reflected by the collecting surface as

R = \frac{{(n_{polymer} - n_{air})}^{2}}{{(n_{polymer} + n_{air})}^{2}}

where n polymer and n air are the refractive index of polymer and air, respectively.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Absorption Enhancement in “Giant” Core/Alloyed-Shell Quantum Dots for Luminescent Solar Concentrator

Zhao

Benetti

Liu

et al. 2016

Small

124

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“…Besides reabsorption, these photon escape-cone losses often dominate all other loss mechanisms in conventional luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs). For randomly oriented molecules and considering photoselection, 30% of the light is lost due to escape-cone losses and the percentage for perfect isotropic emission is only a few percent smaller 21 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomimetic light-harvesting funnels for re-directioning of diffuse light

et al. 2018

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Efficient sunlight harvesting and re-directioning onto small areas has great potential for more widespread use of precious high-performance photovoltaics but so far intrinsic solar concentrator loss mechanisms outweighed the benefits. Here we present an antenna concept allowing high light absorption without high reabsorption or escape-cone losses. An excess of randomly oriented pigments collects light from any direction and funnels the energy to individual acceptors all having identical orientations and emitting ~90% of photons into angles suitable for total internal reflection waveguiding to desired energy converters (funneling diffuse-light re-directioning, FunDiLight). This is achieved using distinct molecules that align efficiently within stretched polymers together with others staying randomly orientated. Emission quantum efficiencies can be >80% and single-foil reabsorption <0.5%. Efficient donor-pool energy funneling, dipole re-orientation, and ~1.5–2 nm nearest donor–acceptor transfer occurs within hundreds to ~20 ps. Single-molecule 3D-polarization experiments confirm nearly parallel emitters. Stacked pigment selection may allow coverage of the entire solar spectrum.

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“…In this case, light is either re-emitted or scattered in a direction such that it falls upon the interfaces at an angle smaller than the critical angle of the host matrix, resulting in the light escaping the larger faces of the device. The critical angle, θ C , is given by Snell's law and can be calculated by θ C = sin −1 (1/n) where n is the host matrix refractive index [23]. For typical waveguides made of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), the escape cone losses of flat LSCs, with no re-absorption losses or additional sources of scattering, are ≈ 25 %.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

All-Silicone-based Distributed Bragg Reflectors for Efficient Flexible Luminescent Solar Concentrators

et al. 2020

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Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) have drawn huge interest recently as a technology to pave the way towards the seamless integration of photovoltaics to a range of high-value industries; from architecture and sports to leisure and consumer electronics. Additional device flexibility comes with the inherent ability to attain freeform shapes, expanding the possible fabrication methods, applications and retro-fitting techniques. Unfortunately, flexible LSCs suffer from curvature induced losses which can severely reduce their efficiency, inhibiting the potential of large-scale devices. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate an all-silicone based flexible LSC and Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) combination diminishing curvature induced losses. The DBRs, fabricated using scalable solution-based processes, exhibit optical properties precisely engineered to partner our LSCs, as well as high uniformity, resistance to temperature and curvature. Comprehensive modelling shows that for large-scale devices (1m 2) we can essentially decouple the performance of the LSC from curvature, steering the technology towards commercial viability.

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Comprehensive analysis of escape-cone losses from luminescent waveguides

Cited by 23 publications

References 23 publications

Absorption Enhancement in “Giant” Core/Alloyed-Shell Quantum Dots for Luminescent Solar Concentrator

Absorption Enhancement in “Giant” Core/Alloyed-Shell Quantum Dots for Luminescent Solar Concentrator

Biomimetic light-harvesting funnels for re-directioning of diffuse light

All-Silicone-based Distributed Bragg Reflectors for Efficient Flexible Luminescent Solar Concentrators

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