Wrinkles and deep folds as photonic structures in photovoltaics

Kim, Jong-Bok; Kim, Pilnam; Pégard, Nicolas C.; Oh, Soong Ju; Kagan, Cherie R.; Fleischer, Jason W.; Stone, Howard A.; Loo, Yueh‐Lin

doi:10.1038/nphoton.2012.70

Cited by 356 publications

(324 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…37,38 Such textured structure with a spacer is also promising; for example, self-cleaning nanodome solar cells with a 280-nm-thick hydrogenated a-Si:H layer can absorb 94% of the light with wavelengths of 400-800 nm, which is significantly higher than the 65% absorption of flat film devices. 39 The enhancement with arrays of ridges is reminiscent of surface wrinkles and folds, [40][41][42] which are spontaneously generated by depositing a metallic film on an elastomeric substrate followed by heating. Here, the elastomeric layer can be the organic active materials, and the metallic wrinkles or folds will act as the nanostructured back contact ( Figure 5).…”

Section: Spps Induced Absorption Enhancementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metallic nanostructures for light trapping in energy-harvesting devices

et al. 2014

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Solar energy is abundant and environmentally friendly. Light trapping in solar-energy-harvesting devices or structures is of critical importance. This article reviews light trapping with metallic nanostructures for thin film solar cells and selective solar absorbers. The metallic nanostructures can either be used in reducing material thickness and device cost or in improving light absorbance and thereby improving conversion efficiency. The metallic nanostructures can contribute to light trapping by scattering and increasing the path length of light, by generating strong electromagnetic field in the active layer, or by multiple reflections/absorptions. We have also discussed the adverse effect of metallic nanostructures and how to solve these problems and take full advantage of the light-trapping effect. INTRODUCTIONThe conversion of solar energy to electricity or heat might be the ultimate means to help solve the energy crisis when hydrocarbon resources such as coal and other fossil fuels cannot satisfy the energy demand. Solar energy is abundant, ,5000 times our current power consumption.1 The use of solar energy can also reduce the environmental problems caused by the consumption of fossil fuels by reducing dusts, noxious gases and greenhouse gases, as well as the resulting haze, acid rain and global warming. To date, the worldwide installed capacity of solar harvesting devices is ,60 GW in electric energy and ,300 GW in thermal energy, 2 with an annual rapid increase. For the existing technology, there is room for further improvement by either enhancing the light absorption or avoiding loss of electricity or heat after absorption. Recently, new advances in nanotechnology and material fabrication methods have resulted in an emerging field of plasmonics by properly introducing metallic nanostructures to manipulate light, enabling light trapping in active layers and thereby enhancing the performance of energy-harvesting devices.3 In addition, certain highly absorbing surfaces or structures with broadband absorption promising to extend the working wavelength of the solar energy spectrum (Figure 1) have been realized. The light-trapping effect, however, allows the thickness of materials and the costs of solar cells to decrease, which in turn benefits electricity collection when the minor carrier diffusion length in the active layer is not sufficiently long.In this review, we focus on light trapping induced by metallic nanostructures for solar energy collection. Corresponding applications are not only for photovoltaics, but also for solar thermal. In fact, solar thermal has a market with profit even higher than photovoltaics, yet

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Section: Spps Induced Absorption Enhancementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metallic nanostructures for light trapping in energy-harvesting devices

et al. 2014

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“…The sheet forms wrinkles under compressive stress [1][2][3][4] and forms cracks under tensile stress. [5][6][7] Self-organized patterns of folds and cracks have been exploited in a number of applications, including nano/microfabrication, [ 8 ] surface and interface science, [ 9 , 10 ] biotechnology, [ 11 ] photonics [ 12 ] and stretchable electronics. [ 13 , 14 ] Here, we report on a thin metal fi lm coated on a microcellular elastomer foam.…”

Section: Localization Of Folds and Cracks In Thin Metal Films Coated mentioning

confidence: 99%

Localization of Folds and Cracks in Thin Metal Films Coated on Flexible Elastomer Foams

et al. 2013

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“…Thus the multiple configurations that form are based on changes in bulk elastic properties, (2). After being loaded with a LCLC (3), the wafer is placed in a glass petri dish (4) and immersed in hexadecane (5). c) Schematic of LCLC film loading procedure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elasticity-dependent self-assembly of micro-templated chromonic liquid crystal films

et al. 2014

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We explore micropatterned director structures of aqueous lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal (LCLC) films created on squarelattice cylindrical-micropost substrates. The structures are manipulated by modulating the LCLC mesophases and their elastic properties via concentration through drying. Nematic LCLC films exhibit preferred bistable alignment along the diagonals of the micropost lattice. Columnar LCLC films, dried from nematics, form two distinct director and defect configurations: a diagonally aligned director pattern with local squares of defects, and an off-diagonal configuration with zig-zag defects. The formation of these states appears to be tied to the relative splay and bend free energy costs of the initial nematic films. The observed nematic and columnar configurations are understood numerically using a Landau-de Gennes free energy model. Among other attributes, the work provide first examples of quasi-2D micropatterning of LC films in the columnar phase and lyotropic LC films in general, and it demonstrates alignment and configuration switching of typically difficult-to-align LCLC films via bulk elastic properties.

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Wrinkles and deep folds as photonic structures in photovoltaics

Cited by 356 publications

References 33 publications

Metallic nanostructures for light trapping in energy-harvesting devices

Metallic nanostructures for light trapping in energy-harvesting devices

Localization of Folds and Cracks in Thin Metal Films Coated on Flexible Elastomer Foams

Elasticity-dependent self-assembly of micro-templated chromonic liquid crystal films

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