Antireflective Nanoparticle Arrays Enhance the Efficiency of Silicon Solar Cells

Wan, Dehui; Chen, Hsuen‐Li; Tseng, Te-Chen; Fang, Chengcheng; Lai, Yu‐Sheng; Yeh, Fang-Yao

doi:10.1002/adfm.201000678

Cited by 65 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Depositing gold nanoparticles on Si surfaces has indeed been demonstrated to enhance the optical absorption in Si and improve photovoltaic performance signifi cantly. [ 26 ] The zero-refl ectance metafi lms are also excellent plasmonic sensors. Optical properties of the metasurface structures are highly sensitive to the local surrounding medium.…”

Section: Full Paper Full Paper Full Papermentioning

confidence: 99%

Zero‐Reflectance Metafilms for Optimal Plasmonic Sensing

Huang

Drakeley

Millyard

et al. 2015

Advanced Optical Materials

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also not easy to make ultrathin antirefl ective fi lms with ultralow refl ections (<1%).Metamaterials provide new routes to construct ultrathin zero-refl ectance fi lms, which have many distinct advantages. Their electromagnetic properties can be custom-designed by properly engineering the nanostructures, and therefore they are no longer limited by natural materials. Conventional optical components rely on light propagation over distances much larger than the wavelength of light to shape wavefronts, accumulating phase shifts continuously during light propagation. By contrast, metasurfaces provide discontinuous abrupt changes in phase and amplitude across very short distances (much smaller than the wavelength of light). They are therefore far more effi cient in shaping and controlling the fl ow of light, [ 12 ] enabling the development of ultrathin zero-refl ectance fi lms with thicknesses only a fraction of the wavelength of light. In addition, due to the strong light-matter interactions, metamaterials can provide extreme concentration of light, which is benefi cial in many applications, such as enhancing the performance of solar cells and in molecular sensing. [ 3,13 ] For many practical applications, it is desirable to develop cost-effective ways to construct zerorefl ectance metafi lms in the visible range, which are insensitive to incident angle and polarization of light.Zero-refl ectance metafi lms have been demonstrated in the terahertz (THz), [ 5 ] gigahertz (GHz), [ 6 ] and infrared frequency regimes, [ 3 ] with periodic structures fabricated by lithographic methods, which are diffi cult to scale up to meet the demands of industrial-scale applications. Alternatively, complete absorption of light in the infrared has been theoretically demonstrated to be achievable with periodically patterned graphene fi lms. [ 14 ] Recently, Svedendahl et al. experimentally demonstrated that complete annihilation of optical refl ection can be achieved with arrays of disordered Au nanodisks on glass substrates, but this was realized only within a small range of incident angles near the critical condition. [ 4 ] Here, we report that zero-refl ectance metafi lms in the visible range can be achieved with an ultrathin layer of metal nanoparticles, which can be simply assembled. We experimentally demonstrate that the refl ectivity of a very shiny surface, such as silicon, can be completely removed with a monolayer of disordered Au nanoparticles, which are fabricated by low-cost self-assembly. The metafi lms can diminish the refl ection of light by more than 99.5% over a wide range of incidence (around ±40°), independent of the polarization of the incident light. The experimental results are in good agreement with simulations from an extended Maxwell-Garnett theory, An ultrathin layer of metasurface that almost completely annihilates the refl ection of light (>99.5%) over a wide range of incident angles (>80°) is experimentally demonstrated. Such zero-refl ectance metafi lms exhibit optimal performance for plasmonic sensing, sinc...

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Section: Full Paper Full Paper Full Papermentioning

confidence: 99%

Zero‐Reflectance Metafilms for Optimal Plasmonic Sensing

Huang

Drakeley

Millyard

et al. 2015

Advanced Optical Materials

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“…Both simulation and experimental work has been extensively reported on dielectric nanoparticles integrated with solar cells [46,[62][63][64][65]. For instance, SiO 2 nanoparticles were incorporated on the top surface of quantum-well solar cells leading to an increased J sc of 12.9% and efficiency enhancement of 17% as shown in Figure 3A are attributed to the coupling of the incident light into the lateral propagating modes, with optical confinement provided by the refractive index contrast of the quantum-well layers.…”

Section: Enhancement From Dielectric Nanoparticlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, closely packed TiO 2 nanoparticle films with controlled thicknesses were integrated on top of Si solar cells using the spin-coating method [62]. It has been found that the reflectance of the substrate was reduced dramatically from 35% to < 15% over the entire absorption wavelength range, leading to a 30% improvement in the photocurrent after the integration of nanoparticles.…”

Section: Enhancement From Dielectric Nanoparticlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanophotonics silicon solar cells: status and future challenges

Jia

2015

Nanotechnology Reviews

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Light management plays an important role in high-performance solar cells. Nanostructures that could effectively trap light offer great potential in improving the conversion efficiency of solar cells with much reduced material usage. Developing low-cost and large-scale nanostructures integratable with solar cells, thus, promises new solutions for high efficiency and low-cost solar energy harvesting. In this paper, we review the exciting progress in this field, in particular, in the market, dominating silicon solar cells and pointing out challenges and future trends.

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“…Moreover, such coatings worked only ________________________ in a limited spectral range, and more efficient reflection reduction in a broad spectral range has been achieved by surface texturing. Surface sub-wavelength nanostructures has been proven to be an effective way to reduce the surface reflection on UV detectors and solar cells [7][8][9][10][11][12] or to enhance the light extraction on LEDs [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Surface nanostructures can normally be manufactured by wet or dry etching.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication of Broadband Antireflective Sub-Micro Structures on 4H-SiC by Mesh Patterning Etching

Yuan¹,

Schlichting²,

Erlbacher³

2018

dteees

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An approach to fabricating pseudoperiodic antireflective subwavelength structures on silicon carbide by using modified resist as etching mask is demonstrated. The etched submicron structure is a mesh-trenched pattern thus as the so called "mesh patterning etching". The mesh patterning process is more time-efficient than the e-beam lithography or nanoimprint lithography process. The influences of the reactive-ion etching conditions and post bake temperature of the resist film to the sub-micron structure profile and its corresponding surface reflectance have been systematically investigated. Under optimal experimental conditions, the average reflectance of the silicon carbide in the range of 390-800 nm is dramatically suppressed from 40% to around 8% after introducing the mesh patterning sub-micro structures.

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Antireflective Nanoparticle Arrays Enhance the Efficiency of Silicon Solar Cells

Cited by 65 publications

References 44 publications

Zero‐Reflectance Metafilms for Optimal Plasmonic Sensing

Zero‐Reflectance Metafilms for Optimal Plasmonic Sensing

Nanophotonics silicon solar cells: status and future challenges

Fabrication of Broadband Antireflective Sub-Micro Structures on 4H-SiC by Mesh Patterning Etching

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