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

Khaleque, Tanzina; Magnusson, Robert

doi:10.1117/1.jnp.8.083995

Cited by 60 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…There is thus a clear need to improve the efficiency of thin-film devices further [6]. Recent developments in plasmonics theory promise new methods with great potential to enhance light trapping in thin-film PV devices [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. To fully exploit these potential benefits offered by plasmonic-based devices, TCOs with high transmittance (low loss) and low enough resistivity are to be used as device top contacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limitations of ultra-thin transparent conducting oxides for integration into plasmonic-enhanced thin-film solar photovoltaic devices

Gwamuri

Vora

Khanal

et al. 2015

Mater Renew Sustain Energy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study investigates ultra-thin transparent conducting oxides (TCO) of indium tin oxide (ITO), aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) to determine their viability as candidate materials for use in plasmonic-enhanced thin-film amorphous silicon solar photovoltaic (PV) devices. First a sensitivity analysis of the optical absorption for the intrinsic layer of a nano-disk patterned thin-film amorphous silicon-based solar cell as a function of TCO thickness (10-50 nm) was performed by simulation. These simulation results were then used to guide the design of the experimental work which investigated both optical and electrical properties of ultra-thin (10 nm on average) films simultaneously deposited on both glass and silicon substrates using conventional rf sputtering. The effects of deposition and post-processing parameters on material properties of ITO, AZO and ZnO ultrathin TCOs were probed and the suitability of TCOs for integration into plasmonic-enhanced thin-film solar PV devices was assessed. The results show that ultra-thin TCOs present a number of challenges for use as thin top contacts on plasmonic-enhanced PV devices: (1) optical and electrical parameters differ greatly from those of thicker (bulk) films deposited under the same conditions, (2) the films are delicate due to their thickness, requiring very long annealing times to prevent cracking, and (3) reactive gases require careful monitoring to maintain stoichiometry. The results presented here found a trade-off between conductivity and transparency of the deposited films. Although the sub 50 nm TCO films investigated exhibited desirable optical properties (transmittance greater than 80 %), their resistivity was too high to be considered as materials for the top contact of conventional PV devices. Future work is necessary to improve thin TCO properties, or alternative materials, and geometries are needed in plasmonic-based amorphous silicon solar cells. The stability of ultra-thin TCO films also needs to be experimentally investigated under normal device operating conditions.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limitations of ultra-thin transparent conducting oxides for integration into plasmonic-enhanced thin-film solar photovoltaic devices

Gwamuri

Vora

Khanal

et al. 2015

Mater Renew Sustain Energy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…the periodic corrugation of the metallic back reflector [4][5][6]17 facilitating the excitation of surface-plasmon-polariton waves [18][19][20] and waveguide modes 21 to intensify the electric field inside the semiconductor region, leading to an increase in the electron-hole pair (EHP) generation rate; ii. the periodic nonhomogeneity of the i-layer that may facilitate the excitation of multiple surface-plasmon-polariton waves 22 and waveguide modes, 17 thereby further boosting the EHP generation rate; and iii.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced efficiency of Schottky-barrier solar cell with periodically nonhomogeneous indium gallium nitride layer

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

, "Enhanced efficiency of Schottky-barrier solar cell with periodically nonhomogeneous indium gallium nitride layer," J. Photon. Energy 7(1), 014502 (2017), doi: 10.1117/1.JPE.7.014502. Abstract. A two-dimensional finite-element model was developed to simulate the optoelectronic performance of a Schottky-barrier solar cell. The heart of this solar cell is a junction between a metal and a layer of n-doped indium gallium nitride (In ξ Ga 1−ξ N) alloy sandwiched between a reflection-reducing front window and a periodically corrugated metallic back reflector. The bandgap of the In ξ Ga 1−ξ N layer was varied periodically in the thickness direction by varying the parameter ξ ∈ ð0;1Þ. First, the frequency-domain Maxwell postulates were solved to determine the spatial profile of photon absorption and, thus, the generation of electron-hole pairs. The AM1.5G solar spectrum was taken to represent the incident solar flux. Next, the drift-diffusion equations were solved for the steady-state electron and hole densities.Numerical results indicate that a corrugated back reflector of a period of 600 nm is optimal for photon absorption when the In ξ Ga 1−ξ N layer is homogeneous. The efficiency of a solar cell with a periodically nonhomogeneous In ξ Ga 1−ξ N layer may be higher by as much as 26.8% compared to the analogous solar cell with a homogeneous In ξ Ga 1−ξ N layer. © 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.

show abstract

“…Finally, we fixed L = 400 nm, consistently with the exploitation of Floquet theory to excite surface-plasmon-polariton waves [14][15][16] and waveguide modes. 16,17 …”

Section: Numerical Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Buffer layer between a planar optical concentrator and a solar cell

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The effect of inserting a buffer layer between a periodically multilayered isotropic dielectric (PMLID) material acting as a planar optical concentrator and a photovoltaic solar cell was theoretically investigated. The substitution of the photovoltaic material by a cheaper dielectric material in a large area of the structure could reduce the fabrication costs without significantly reducing the efficiency of the solar cell. Both crystalline silicon (c-Si) and gallium arsenide (GaAs) were considered as the photovoltaic material. We found that the buffer layer can act as an antireflection coating at the interface of the PMLID and the photovoltaic materials, and the structure increases the spectrally averaged electron-hole pair density by 36% for c-Si and 38% for GaAs compared to the structure without buffer layer. Numerical evidence indicates that the optimal structure is robust with respect to small changes in the grating profile.

show abstract

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

Cited by 60 publications

References 32 publications

Limitations of ultra-thin transparent conducting oxides for integration into plasmonic-enhanced thin-film solar photovoltaic devices

Limitations of ultra-thin transparent conducting oxides for integration into plasmonic-enhanced thin-film solar photovoltaic devices

Enhanced efficiency of Schottky-barrier solar cell with periodically nonhomogeneous indium gallium nitride layer

Buffer layer between a planar optical concentrator and a solar cell

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About