Multi‐dimensional modeling of solar cells with electromagnetic and carrier transport calculations

Abstract

We present a multi-dimensional model for comprehensive simulations of solar cells (SCs), considering both electromagnetic and electronic properties. Typical homojunction and heterojunction gallium arsenide SCs were simulated in different spatial dimensions. When considering one-dimensional problems, the model performs carrier transport calculations following a Beer-Lambert optical absorption approximation. We show that the results of such simulations exhibit excellent agreement with the standard PC1D one-dimensional photovoltaic simulation. Photonic and plasmonic attempts to enhance SC efficiency demand comprehensive electromagnetic calculations to be undertaken in order to acquire accurate carrier generation profiles in two and three-dimensional systems. Our model provides complete spectral and spatial information of typical optical and electronic behavior. Furthermore, our approach permits the detailed investigation of complex systems, including plasmonic SCs, which cannot be simulated using low-dimensional modeling tools. We present the results of numerical simulations of an optically thin plasmonic gallium arsenide SC and observe improved device performance arising from the application of plasmonic nanostructures, which agree well with previous experimental findings.

Optoelectronic insights into the photovoltaic losses from photocurrent, voltage, and energy perspectives

“…We first introduce the fundamental theory and governing equations for optoelectronic simulation: [16][17][18] …”

“…where Equations (1)(3) are the wavelength-dependent carrier-transport and Poisson's equations, The carrier generation rate g(x,y,z,λ) can be estimated by solving electromagnetic wave equation in frequency domain, 16,17 and U bulk is the total bulk recombination rate including contributions 16 surface recombination conditions are considered in both contacts to evaluate the corresponding photocurrent loss in the device surfaces. Such a frequency-domain analysis is established without a bias (i.e., V a = 0 V), enabling the extraction of rich spectral information of photocurrent.…”

“…Photon recycling is taken into account by using a reduced radiative coefficient according to the data from previous work. 16 First, we solve the Maxwell equations with COMSOL Multiphysics in frequency and 3D spatial domain to calculate the material absorption and carrier generation distribution. 25 The wavelengthdependent photocurrent losses due to carrier recombinations can be obtained through solving Equations (1)- (6).…”

Nanoparticle Scattering for Multijunction Solar Cells: The Tradeoff Between Absorption Enhancement and Transmission Loss

“…This combined model is a simplification of that in Refs. [25,26]. The calculation yields the expected external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the simulated device.…”

Plasmon gap mode-assisted third-harmonic generation from metal film-coupled nanowires

“…1,2 Metallic nanostructures support collective oscillations of conduction electrons, i.e., surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), which dramatically squeeze and localize the optical energy within an ultra-small mode volume. The efficient nanoscale light concentration facilitates the light harness and enhances the nonlinear optical processes in metallic nanostructures, including photovoltaic devices [3][4][5] and second/third harmonic generation (SHG/THG). 6,7 To get stronger optical harmonic generation, effective nanodesign is usually a decisive factor since the nonlinear susceptibility is inherently weak.…”