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Kind of broad-band photonic valve and its application to silicon solar cells

J. Le Perchec

Open Access Open Access

Abstract

We investigate the dual optical behaviour of a photonic grating interface presenting a more or less important index contrast, showing either efficient broadband reflectivity, either high transmittance within the same spectral window, depending on the direction of the incident light. This behaviour is reminiscent of a diode one and could find interesting applications. A typical example is given for thin crystalline silicon solar cells where the rear side is directly nano-textured to trap light without metal reflector (bifacial device), well compatible with an integration in a photovoltaic module.

© 2012 Optical Society of America

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Figures (5)
Fig. 1
Fig. 1 Sketch of the non-symmetrical grating structure and parameters. Red arrows are opposite directions of incident light (direction 1 by default). (b) Reflectivity of the system taking a rectangular profile and high contrast indexes: n1 = nSi(λ) (the imaginary part is omitted), n2 = 2, n3 = 1, P = 650 nm, h1 = 325nm, h2 = 0, w/P = 0.55. (c) Efficiencies of the first reflected orders in the TM case.

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Fig. 2
Fig. 2 (a) Case of a low contrast index grating, with fixed n1 = 3.5 and n2 = 3.0, needing to take a sufficiently thick grating to retrieve a high and braadband internal reflectivity. (b) Reflectivity diagram in function of the filling factor for optical indexes globally low: n1 = 2.5, n2 = 1.5, n3 = 1, P = 700nm, h1 = 400nm (h2 = 0), in TE polarization.

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Fig. 3
Fig. 3 (a) Sketch showing a parallel (not an analogy) between the structure and a diode. The system acts as a passive photonic valve. (b) Reflection/Transmission spectra demonstrating this dual optical behaviour, with an additional sub-layer h2 thick (see Fig. 1(a)) optimizing transmission in the passing direction. (c) Angular responses in the blocking directon (for an incidence angle taken within the high index medium).

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Fig. 4
Fig. 4 Reflectivity spectra for different structuration profiles, in TE polarization (numerical examples). The period is P = 700nm.

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Fig. 5
Fig. 5 (left) Internal optical absorption of monocrystalline silicon for different substrate thicknesses (one passage of light). (right) Sketch of a PV module architecture integrating a bifacial c-Si cell with a photonic valve at the rear side and a conformal passivation layer. Arrows indicate various directions of light with respect to the texture.

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Equations (1)

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2 h 1 ≈ λ / | n eff ( i ) − n eff ( j ) |
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