First down converter multilayers integration in an industrial Si solar cell process

Abstract

Down converter SiNx:Yb3+/SiNx:Tb3+ multilayers are deposited by reactive magnetron cosputtering with the objective of optimizing the interaction distance between Tb3+ and Yb3+ ions to favor a better light management in Si solar cells. Those Si‐based multilayers are developed to be compatible with the Si photovoltaic technology. The deposition parameters are optimized to enhance the emission of the Yb3+ ions in the IR region. The emission efficiency of such multilayer structure is compared with a mixed RE SiNx:Tb3+‐Yb3+ layer evidencing a gain resulting from a better management of the Tb3+ and Yb3+ ions distance. At the end, we integrate the growth of such a multilayer in an industrial Si solar cell process and demonstrate the existence of a frequency conversion effect that is promising for the future increase of the Si solar cell efficiency.

Down-Shifting in the YAM: Ce3+ + Yb3+ System for Solar Cells

“…In the case of many among the investigated hosts, no cooperative down-conversion from Ce 3+ to Yb 3+ had been observed, and single-photon energy transfer from cerium to ytterbium ions was attributed to charge transfer [16,17]. Some functional down-converting layers utilizing the Ce 3+ + Yb 3+ pair had been reported [18], along with spectra converting layers, based on other rare earth systems such as SiN:Tb 3+ + Yb 3+ [19], for c-Si cells or organic dyes [20]. However, obtaining such a layer poses significant challenges, such as reabsorption within Yb 3+ ions [21] or sub optimally located absorption bands [19].…”

“…Some functional down-converting layers utilizing the Ce 3+ + Yb 3+ pair had been reported [ 18 ], along with spectra converting layers, based on other rare earth systems such as SiN:Tb 3+ + Yb 3+ [ 19 ], for c-Si cells or organic dyes [ 20 ]. However, obtaining such a layer poses significant challenges, such as reabsorption within Yb 3+ ions [ 21 ] or sub optimally located absorption bands [ 19 ].…”

Exploring Ln(III) Ion-Based Luminescent Species as Down-Shifters for Photovoltaic Solar Cells

“…Integrating lanthanide downshifting layers into solar cells poses several challenges that must be addressed, including cost-effectiveness, stability, and efficiency [44,45]. As solar energy continues to grow in importance as a renewable energy source, advancements in downshifting will play an increasingly crucial role in addressing these challenges [46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62].…”

Indirect excitation and luminescence activation of Tb doped indium tin oxide and its impact on the host’s optical and electrical properties

“…Rare-earth (RE) doped wide bandgap semiconductors have attracted great attention as efficient luminescent materials for optoelectronic applications, like photon downshift, as well as down-and up-conversion systems [1,2], optical amplifiers [3,4], electroluminescent devices [5,6], lasers [7,8], non-contact luminescent temperature sensors [9][10][11], and photonic structures [12][13][14]. Recently, RE based down-and up-conversion layers have been effectively integrated in solar cells [15][16][17]. This is attributed to two principal features.…”

“…These features make RE doped wide bandgap semiconductors suitable for light emission applications, as an alternative to direct semiconductor based devices [5,6], and light conversion applications which can be integrated in solar cells [15][16][17]. However, the RE-related light emission intensity is sensitive to the host environment, oxygen content, disorder-induced states and other localized electronic states [5,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28].…”