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Resonance-induced absorption enhancement in colloidal quantum dot solar cells using nanostructured electrodes

Seyed Milad Mahpeykar, Qiuyang Xiong, and Xihua Wang

Open Access Open Access

Abstract

The application of nanostructured indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) electrodes as diffraction gratings for light absorption enhancement in colloidal quantum dot solar cells is numerically investigated using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. Resonant coupling of the incident diffracted light with supported waveguide modes in light absorbing layer at particular wavelengths predicted by grating far-field projection analysis is shown to provide superior near-infrared light trapping for nanostructured devices as compared to the planar structure. Among various technologically feasible nanostructures, the two-dimensional nano-branch array is demonstrated as the most promising polarization-independent structure and proved to be able to maintain its performance despite structural imperfections common in fabrication.

© 2014 Optical Society of America

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Figures (9)
Fig. 1
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of a basic diffraction grating structure and transmitted and reflected orders caused by normal light incidence on grating interface.

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Fig. 2
Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of a PbS colloidal quantum dot solar cell with nanostructured ITO diffraction gratings used for simulation.

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Fig. 3
Fig. 3 (a) Reflection and (b) Transmission diffraction efficiency of triangular ITO gratings as a function of wavelength for TE (left) and TM (right) light polarizations. Plotted efficiencies are for zeroth order, higher orders and total diffracted orders.

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Fig. 4
Fig. 4 Relative transmission efficiency as a function of direction of diffracted orders for triangular ITO gratings at select (a) on-resonance (947 nm) and (b) off-resonance (1150 nm) wavelengths for TE polarization of light.

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Fig. 5
Fig. 5 Light absorption profile for (a,b) Triangular (c,d) nano-pillar (e,f) nano-well (g,h) nano-branch ITO gratings at select on-resonance (a,c,e,g) and off-resonance (b,d,f,h) wavelengths for TE polarization of light.

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Fig. 6
Fig. 6 Simulated absorption spectra of CQD solar cells with different 1D ITO diffraction gratings for (a) TE and (b) TM light polarizations. The power available by the sun and the absorption spectra for solar cell without any diffraction gratings (flat structure) are also included for comparison. Absorption enhancement factor for each grating structure over the flat structure is shown in inset.

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Fig. 7
Fig. 7 Simulated absorption spectra of CQD solar cells with 2D pyramid and nano-branch ITO diffraction gratings for TE and TM light polarizations. The power available by the sun and the absorption spectra for solar cell without any diffraction gratings (flat structure) are also included for comparison. The schematic diagrams of the simulated pyramid and nano-branch ITO gratings are included in the inset.

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Fig. 8
Fig. 8 Top-view light absorption profile for 2D nano-branch ITO gratings at select resonance wavelengths for TE (a-d) and TM (e-h) polarizations of light. (a,e) 757 nm (b,f) 918 nm (c,g) 1050 nm (d,h) 1167 nm.

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Fig. 9
Fig. 9 Simulated absorption spectra of CQD solar cells with perfect and imperfect 2D nano-branch ITO diffraction gratings. Inset includes schematic and top-view light absorption profile at the wavelength of 990 nm for perfect (right) and imperfect (left) ITO nanobranch gratings.

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Equations (5)

Equations on this page are rendered with MathJax. Learn more.

mλ=Λ( n i sin θ i + n d sin θ d )
mλ=Λ n 1 sin θ t
mλ=Λ n 2 sin θ r
P abs = 1 2 ω ε 0 Im{ ε r }|E | 2
Absorption Enhancement (%)= P g − P f P f ×100
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