Nanoimprint lithography of textures for light trapping in thin film silicon solar cells

Soppe, W.J.; Dörenkämper, Maarten; Notta, J.B.; Pex, P.P.A.C.; Schipper, W.; Wilde, R.

doi:10.1002/pssa.201200887

Cited by 14 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…For the cells reported in this paper we replicated the morphology of a master which has a periodic structure with a pitch of 1 µm and a peak‐to‐valley roughness of around 350 nm. The effectiveness of this morphology, which was optimized for use in a‐Si:H/nc‐Si:H tandem solar cells, with regards to improved current generation was shown in earlier work . Although this texture is not necessarily the optimum morphology for single junction a‐Si:H cells we used it to demonstrate the possibility of nanopatterning simultaneously with eliminating the porosity of the paper as a substrate.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amorphous silicon solar cells on nano‐imprinted commodity paper without sacrificing efficiency

Werf

Budel

Dörenkämper

et al. 2015

Physica Rapid Research Ltrs

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Paper is a cheap substrate which is in principle compatible with the process temperature applied in the plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) and hot wire CVD (HWCVD) of thin film silicon solar cells. The main drawback of paper for this application is the porosity due to its fibre like structure. The feature size (micrometre scale) is larger than the thickness of the applied photovoltaic layers. To overcome this problem, UV curable lacquer was used to planarize the surface. Plain 80 grams printer paper was taken as a substrate and the lacquer smoothens the rough surface of the paper such that a designed nanostructure can be imprinted for light scattering. In this manner single junction amorphous silicon solar cells with a HWCVD deposited intrinsic layer were processed on paper, without any concessions to the process temperature of 200 °C. The cell performance is comparable to that of reference cells grown on stainless steel, proving that solar cells can be deposited on paper substrates without sacrificing performance. PV on paper could be applied as ”disposable” power source for gadgets, electronic labelling, remote sensing systems, etc. (Internet of Things). (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amorphous silicon solar cells on nano‐imprinted commodity paper without sacrificing efficiency

Werf

Budel

Dörenkämper

et al. 2015

Physica Rapid Research Ltrs

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“…Besides random, periodic textures have also shown potential to reach or even surpass optical properties of random textures if properly optimised [6][7][8][9][10][11]. Using interference or UV nano-imprint lithography large area superstrates/substrates including desired texture with high accuracy of desired texture shape can be made on large scale [12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prediction of defective regions in optimisation of surface textures in thin-film silicon solar cells using combined model of layer growth

2014

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“…Besides random textures of transparent conductive oxides (such as SnO 2 :F [3], low pressure chemical vapour deposition-LP-CVD of ZnO:B [4], or magnetron sputtered ZnO:Al [5]) and nano-textured silver back contacts [6], artificial periodic textures have also gained much interest, showing the potential to match or even surpass the light trapping capabilities of random textures [7]. By using interference lithography, UV nano-imprint lithography, electroforming process for fabrication of large shims and UV embossing process, large area substrates with desired textures can be made on industrial scale [8][9][10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combined model of non-conformal layer growth for accurate optical simulation of thin-film silicon solar cells

Sever

Lipovšek

Krč

et al. 2013

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

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a b s t r a c tIn thin-film silicon solar cells textured interfaces are introduced, leading to improved antireflection and light trapping capabilities of the devices. Thin-layers are deposited on surface-textured substrates or superstrates and the texture is translated to internal interfaces. For accurate optical modelling of the thin-film silicon solar cells it is important to define and include the morphology of textured interfaces as realistic as possible. In this paper we present a model of thin-layer growth on textured surfaces which combines two growth principles: conformal and isotropic one. With the model we can predict the morphology of subsequent internal interfaces in thin-film silicon solar cells based on the known morphology of the substrate or superstrate. Calibration of the model for different materials grown under certain conditions is done on various cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy images of realistic devices. Advantages over existing growth modelling approaches are demonstrated-one of them is the ability of the model to predict and omit the textures with high possibility of defective regions formation inside the Si absorber layers. The developed model of layer growth is used in rigorous 3-D optical simulations employing the COMSOL simulator. A sinusoidal texture of the substrate is optimised for the case of a micromorph silicon solar cell. More than a 50 % increase in short-circuit current density of the bottom cell with respect to the flat case is predicted, considering the defect-free absorber layers. The developed approach enables accurate prediction and powerful design of current-matched top and bottom cell.

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Nanoimprint lithography of textures for light trapping in thin film silicon solar cells

Cited by 14 publications

References 4 publications

Amorphous silicon solar cells on nano‐imprinted commodity paper without sacrificing efficiency

Amorphous silicon solar cells on nano‐imprinted commodity paper without sacrificing efficiency

Prediction of defective regions in optimisation of surface textures in thin-film silicon solar cells using combined model of layer growth

Combined model of non-conformal layer growth for accurate optical simulation of thin-film silicon solar cells

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