Open AccessNanophotonic light trapping in 3-dimensional thin-film silicon architectures
Author(s) -
Daniel Lockau,
Tobias Sontheimer,
Christiane Becker,
Eveline RudigierVoigt,
Frank Schmidt,
Bernd Rech
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.21.000a42
Subject(s) - absorptance , silicon , nanophotonics , materials science , optics , optoelectronics , fabrication , absorption (acoustics) , trapping , polycrystalline silicon , thin film , nanotechnology , physics , layer (electronics) , reflectivity , medicine , ecology , alternative medicine , pathology , biology , thin film transistor
Emerging low cost and large area periodic texturing methods promote the fabrication of complex absorber structures for thin film silicon solar cells. We present a comprehensive numerical analysis of a 2 μm square periodic polycrystalline silicon absorber architecture designed in our laboratories. Simulations are performed on the basis of a precise finite element reconstruction of the experimentally realized silicon structure. In contrast to many other publications, superstrate light trapping effects are included in our model. Excellent agreement to measured absorptance spectra is obtained. For the inclusion of the absorber into a standard single junction cell layout, we show that light trapping close to the Yablonovitch limit can be realized, but is usually strongly damped by parasitic absorption.