Optimization of non-periodic plasmonic light-trapping layers for thin-film solar cells

Ragip A. Pala, John S. Q. Liu, Edward S. Barnard, Daulet Askarov, Erik C. Garnett, Shanhui Fan and Mark L. Brongersma ()
Additional contact information
Ragip A. Pala: Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University
John S. Q. Liu: Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University
Edward S. Barnard: Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University
Daulet Askarov: Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University
Erik C. Garnett: Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University
Shanhui Fan: Stanford University
Mark L. Brongersma: Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University

Nature Communications, 2013, vol. 4, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Non-periodic arrangements of nanoscale light scatterers allow for the realization of extremely effective broadband light-trapping layers for solar cells. However, their optimization is challenging given the massive number of degrees of freedom. Brute-force, full-field electromagnetic simulations are computationally too time intensive to identify high-performance solutions in a vast design space. Here we illustrate how a semi-analytical model can be used to quickly identify promising non-periodic spatial arrangements of nanoscale scatterers. This model only requires basic knowledge of the scattering behaviour of a chosen nanostructure and the waveguiding properties of the semiconductor layer in a cell. Due to its simplicity, it provides new intuition into the ideal amount of disorder in high-performance light-trapping layers. Using simulations and experiments, we demonstrate that arrays of nanometallic stripes featuring a limited amount of disorder, for example, following a quasi-periodic or Fibonacci sequence, can substantially enhance solar absorption over perfectly periodic and random arrays.

Date: 2013
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms3095 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:4:y:2013:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms3095

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3095

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().