Dual-interface gratings for broadband absorption enhancement in thin-film solar cells

ABSTRACTCurrently, the performances of thin film solar cells are limited by poor light absorption and carrier collection. In this research, large, broadband, and polarization-insensitive light absorption enhancement was realized via incorporation of different periodic nanopetterns. By studying the enhancement effect brought by different materials, dimensions, coverage, and dielectric environments of the metal nanopatterns, we analyzed the absorption enhancement mechanisms as well as optimization criteria for our designs. A test for totaling the absorption over the solar spectrum shows an up to ∼30% broadband absorption enhancement when comparing to conventional thin film cells.

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Discrete Optical Field Manipulation by Ag-Al Bilayer Gratings for Broadband Absorption Enhancement in Thin-Film Solar Cells

Plasmonics ◽

10.1007/s11468-017-0669-z ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 1603-1613 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Yifu Chen ◽

Long Wen ◽

Xin Hu ◽

Run Xu ◽

Qin Chen

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Optical Field ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Absorption Enhancement ◽

Broadband Absorption ◽

Field Manipulation

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Design of Ag nanograting for broadband absorption enhancement in amorphous silicon thin film solar cells

Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing ◽

10.1016/j.mssp.2015.06.047 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 39 ◽

pp. 760-763 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Ping Liu ◽

Shi-e Yang ◽

Yanxia Ma ◽

Xiangyang Lu ◽

Yukun Jia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Amorphous Silicon ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Absorption Enhancement ◽

Silicon Thin Film ◽

Broadband Absorption

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Broadband absorption enhancement in plasmonic thin-film solar cells with grating surface

Superlattices and Microstructures ◽

10.1016/j.spmi.2015.07.065 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 86 ◽

pp. 300-305 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Li Liu ◽

Yiping Huo ◽

Kaijun Zhao ◽

Ting Zhao ◽

Yuan Li

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Absorption Enhancement ◽

Broadband Absorption

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Broadband Absorption Enhancement in μc-Si:H Thin-Film Solar Cells Based on Silver Nanoparticle Arrays

NANO ◽

10.1142/s1793292017500291 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 12 (03) ◽

pp. 1750029 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Shie Yang ◽

Ping Liu ◽

Dong Ding ◽

Qiaoneng Guo ◽

Yongsheng Chen

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Indium Tin Oxide ◽

Cell Structure ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Absorption Enhancement ◽

Geometrical Parameters ◽

Nanoparticle Arrays ◽

Ag Nanoparticle ◽

Broadband Absorption

The thin-film solar cell structure with a broadband absorption enhancement is reported. We designed spherical silver (Ag) nanoparticle arrays on or embedded partially into indium tin oxide (ITO) layer of the hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon ([Formula: see text]c-Si:H) thin-film solar cells. The geometrical parameters, such as nanoparticle radius ([Formula: see text], array period ([Formula: see text] and ITO layer thickness ([Formula: see text] are optimized by using the finite element method (FEM). The numerical results show that the key parameter that influences the integrated absorption is period/radius ratio ([Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text] for Ag nanoparticle arrays. Embedding nanoparticle arrays partially into ITO layer with the appropriate thickness can improve broadband light-trapping. The optimized structure shows 50.1% enhancement in the integrated absorption compared to the reference cell when [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]nm, [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]nm and [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]nm. Furthermore, physical mechanisms of absorption enhancement in different wavelength range are discussed according to the electrical field amplitude distributions in the solar cells.

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