Plasmonic light trapping for wavelength-scale silicon solar absorbers

doi:10.1007/s12200-016-0614-3

Front. Optoelectron.

2016, Vol. 9

Issue (2) : 277-282 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12200-016-0614-3

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Plasmonic light trapping for wavelength-scale silicon solar absorbers

Yinan ZHANG¹, Min GU^1,²(

)

¹. Centre for Micro-Photonics, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Industrial Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn VIC 3122, Australia
². Artificial-Intelligence Nanophotonics Laboratory, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne VIC 3001, Australia

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Abstract

Light trapping is of critical importance for constructing high efficiency solar cells. In this paper, we first reviewed the progress we made on the plasmonic light trapping on Si wafer solar cells, including Al nanoparticle (NP)/SiN_x hybrid plasmonic antireflection and the Ag NP light trapping for the long-wavelength light in ultrathin Si wafer solar cells. Then we numerically explored the maximum light absorption enhancement by a square array of Ag NPs located at the rear side of ultrathin solar cells with wavelength-scale Si thickness. Huge absorption enhancement is achieved at particular long wavelengths due to the excitation of the plasmon-coupled guided resonances. The photocurrent generated in 100 nm thick Si layers is 6.8 mA/cm², representing an enhancement up to 92% when compared with that (3.55 mA/cm²) of the solar cells without the Ag NPs. This study provides the insights of plasmonic light trapping for ultrathin solar cells with wavelength-scale Si thickness.

Keywords solar cells light trapping plasmonic ultrathin Si wavelength-scale

Corresponding Author(s): Min GU

Just Accepted Date: 18 February 2016 Online First Date: 29 March 2016 Issue Date: 05 April 2016

Cite this article:

Yinan ZHANG,Min GU. Plasmonic light trapping for wavelength-scale silicon solar absorbers[J]. Front. Optoelectron., 2016, 9(2): 277-282.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/foe/EN/10.1007/s12200-016-0614-3
https://academic.hep.com.cn/foe/EN/Y2016/V9/I2/277

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of the plasmonic solar cell structure and the simulation geometry. PML: perfectly matched layer; PBC: periodic boundary condition

Fig.2 Optimization map of the photocurrent as a function of the NP diameter and the space between the NPs

Fig.3 Spectra of the absorption in the (a) Si layer, (b) SiO₂ layer with Ag NPs, (c) Ag reflector and (d) the reflection for the solar cells integrated with the optimized Ag NPs, referenced with the solar cells without Ag NPs

Fig.4 Electrical field distributions for the solar cells without Ag NPs at the wavelengths of (a) 400 nm and (b) 800 nm and those for the solar cells with the optimized Ag NPs at the wavelengths of (c) 394 nm and (d) 634 nm. The Si layers are highlighted by the white dash lines (Scale bar: 250 nm)

Fig.5 Optimized photocurrent density as a function of the Si thickness for the solar cells with and without Ag NP integration. The photocurrent enhancement is shown for reference

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