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Optical absorption enhancement in a hybrid system photonic crystal – thin substrate for photovoltaic applications

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Abstract

A hybrid approach for light trapping using photonic crystal nanostructures (nanorods, nanopillars or nanoholes) on top of an ultra thin film as a substrate is presented. The combination of a nanopatterned layer with a thin substrate shows an enhanced optical absorption than equivalent films without patterning and can compete in performance with nanostructured systems without a substrate. The designs are tested in four relevant materials: amorphous silicon (a-Si), crystalline silicon (Si), gallium arsenide (GaAs) and indium phosphide (InP). A consistent enhancement is observed for all of the materials when using a thin hybrid system (300 nm) even compared to the non patterned thin film with an anti-reflective coating (ARC). A realistic solar cell structure composed of a hybrid system with a layer of indium tin oxide (ITO) an ARC and a back metal layer is performed, showing an 18% of improvement for the nanostructured device.

©2012 Optical Society of America

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Figures (16)

Fig. 1
Fig. 1 Hybrid systems composed of (a) 1D photonic crystal of NRods on top of a thin film substrate (b) and (c) 2D photonic crystal structures of NPillars and NHoles, respectively, on top of a thin film substrate.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2 Dielectric permittivity of GaAs, InP and Si. The fitted curves for real part (blue line), and imaginary part (red line), are shown. The crosses are the data taken from [14] interpolated with 100 points. The dashed lines separate independent fittings regions. Four zones for InP, GaAs, and ten for Si. The data out of this zones were simulated using the cross points.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3 Absorption for 1D nanostructured systems of NRods for the different absorbing materials (blue line) compared to the non-patterned TF 300nm thick (green line). The black line (dashed) corresponds to the LA of 300 nm.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4 Reflection for 1D nanostructured systems of NRods for the different absorbing materials simulated (blue line) compared to the non-patterned TF 300nm-thick (green line).
Fig. 5
Fig. 5 Absorption for 2D nanostructured systems of NHoles (blue line) NPillars (green line) and a TF 300nm-thick of the same material (red line). The black line (dashed) corresponds to the LA of 300 nm.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6 Reflection for 2D nanostructured systems of NHoles (blue line) NPillars (green line) and a TF 300nm-thick of the same material (red line).
Fig. 7
Fig. 7 Absorption for the evolution in thickness for NHoles and NPillars. i) 150 nm PC + 150 nm TF (blue line) ii) 300 nm PC + 300 nm TF (green line) and iii) 500 nm PC + 500 nm TF (red line). Dashed lines correspond to LA with the same thicknesses (black 300 nm, grey 600 nm, light grey 1 micron).
Fig. 8
Fig. 8 Reflection for the evolution in thickness for NHoles and NPillars. i) 150 nm PC + 150 nm TF (blue line) ii) 300 nm PC + 300 nm TF (green line) and iii) 500 nm PC + 500 nm TF (red line).
Fig. 9
Fig. 9 Absorption for nanopatterned GaAs (NPillars 150 nm high) on a GaAs substrate (150 nm thick) for oblique incidence and for s, p polarizations, 0°(blue line), 15°(green line), 30°(red line), 45°(cyan line).
Fig. 10
Fig. 10 Reflection for nanopatterned GaAs (NPillars 150 nm high) on a GaAs substrate (150 nm thick) for oblique incidence and for s, p polarizations.0°(blue line), 15°(green line), 30°(red line), 45°(cyan line).
Fig. 11
Fig. 11 Absorption enhancement factor for the three different thickness of 300nm (blue), 600nm (green) and 1000nm (red) and for the case of Si with NHoles (left) and NPillars (right). The black, dashed line corresponds to the Lambertian absorber.
Fig. 12
Fig. 12 Enhancement in absorption for 2D systems, NHoles (blue line), NPillars (green line) and LA (black dashed line).
Fig. 13
Fig. 13 Solar cell with (a) and without (b) pattern. The thickness of the ARC layer is s = 80 nm above the nanopattern. The system with NHoles is equivalent.
Fig. 14
Fig. 14 Reflection and absorption for the patterned solar cell with NHoles (blue line), NPillars (green line) and the non-patterned solar cell structure (red line).
Fig. 15
Fig. 15 Solar cell with (a) and without (b) pattern. The thickness of the ARC layer is s´ = 180 nm above the nanopattern, and the h ITO =150 nm. The system with NHoles is equivalent.
Fig. 16
Fig. 16 Reflection and absorption for the patterned solar cell with NHoles (blue line), NPillars (green line) and the non-patterned solar cell structure (red line).

Tables (2)

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Table 1 Table of Ultimate Efficiencies ( η ) for the 1D and 2D Nanopatterned Hybrid Systems and the Non-Patterned Thin Film with and without an Optimized ARC.

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Table 2 Evolution of ultimate efficiency versus thickness for the simulated materials. The values of the figures of comparison Δ η 1 and Δ η 2 correspond to the system with the highest enhancement. i) 150 nm PC + 150 nm TF ii) 300 nm PC + 300 nm TF and iii) 500 nm PC + 500 nm TF .

Equations (2)

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η= 0 λ g I ( λ )A( λ ) λ λ g dλ 0 I ( λ )dλ
ε( ω )= ε + n=1 N s n ω n 2 ω n ω 2 iω Γ n
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