Impact of breaking symmetry on the light trapping properties of periodic nanostructures for ultra-thin silicon solar cells
Wang P, Peters M (2015)
Publication Type: Conference contribution
Publication year: 2015
Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Conference Proceedings Title: 2015 IEEE 42nd Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2015
Event location: New Orleans, LA, USA
ISBN: 9781479979448
DOI: 10.1109/PVSC.2015.7356107
Abstract
Achieving high optical absorption with crystalline silicon absorber layers which are only a few micrometers thick remains a challenge. Periodic nanostructures can be used for this purpose but need to be optimised in order to achieve the best light trapping properties. In this work we theoretically investigate and quantify the impact of breaking the symmetry on the light trapping properties of periodic nanostructures. By comparing highly symmetric baseline periodic nano-pyramids and asymmetric skewed periodic nano-pyramids, we demonstrate that the absorbed photocurrent density of periodic nanostructures can be enhanced by this measure. For the investigated structure we found an increase of up to 1.6 mA/cm2 in absorbed photocurrent density by introducing asymmetry. Moreover, we further demonstrate that such enhancement is due to the stronger coupling of light into high diffraction orders and stronger near-field enhancement by asymmetric structures.
Involved external institutions
Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Singapore (SG)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
United States (USA) (US)
Singapore (SG)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
United States (USA) (US)
How to cite
APA:
Wang, P., & Peters, M. (2015). Impact of breaking symmetry on the light trapping properties of periodic nanostructures for ultra-thin silicon solar cells. In 2015 IEEE 42nd Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2015. New Orleans, LA, USA: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc..
MLA:
Wang, Puqun, and Marius Peters. "Impact of breaking symmetry on the light trapping properties of periodic nanostructures for ultra-thin silicon solar cells." Proceedings of the 42nd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2015, New Orleans, LA, USA Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2015.
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