Efficient light-trapping nanostructures in thin silicon solar cells

Sang Eon Han; Anastassios Mavrokefalos; Matthew Sanders Branham; Gang Chen

doi:10.1117/12.881047

13 May 2011 Efficient light-trapping nanostructures in thin silicon solar cells

Sang Eon Han, Anastassios Mavrokefalos, Matthew Sanders Branham, Gang Chen

Proceedings Volume 8031, Micro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications III; 80310T (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.881047
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2011, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

We examine light-trapping in thin crystalline silicon periodic nanostructures for solar cell applications. Using group theory, we show that light-trapping can be improved over a broad band when structural mirror symmetry is broken. This finding allows us to obtain surface nanostructures with an absorptance exceeding the Lambertian limit over a broad band at normal incidence. Further, we demonstrate that the absorptance of nanorod arrays with symmetry breaking not only exceeds the Lambertian limit over a range of spectrum but also closely follows the limit over the entire spectrum of interest for isotropic incident radiation. These effects correspond to a reduction in silicon mass by two orders of magnitude, pointing to the promising future of thin crystalline silicon solar cells.

Citation Download Citation

Sang Eon Han, Anastassios Mavrokefalos, Matthew Sanders Branham, and Gang Chen "Efficient light-trapping nanostructures in thin silicon solar cells", Proc. SPIE 8031, Micro- and Nanotechnology Sensors, Systems, and Applications III, 80310T (13 May 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.881047

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