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Using spacer layers to control metal and semiconductor absorption in ultrathin solar cells with plasmonic substrates

Using spacer layers to control metal and semiconductor absorption in ultrathin solar cells with plasmonic substrates
Using spacer layers to control metal and semiconductor absorption in ultrathin solar cells with plasmonic substrates
We systematically explore the performance of ultrathin amorphous silicon solar cells integrated on plasmonic substrates of several different morphologies. Angle-resolved reflectance, external quantum efficiency measurements, and finite-difference time-domain simulations highlight the importance of the spacer layer in determining the mode profiles to which light can couple. Coupling mechanisms are found to strongly differ between periodic silver nanovoid arrays and randomly textured silver substrates. Tailoring the spacer thickness leads to 50% higher quantum efficiencies and short-circuit current densities by tuning the coupling between the near-field and trapped modes with enhanced optical path lengths. The balance of absorption for the plasmonic near field at the metal/semiconductor interface is analytically derived for a broad range of leading photovoltaic materials. This yields key design principles for plasmonic thin-film solar cells, predicting strong near-field enhancement only for CdTe, CuInGaSe2, and organic polymer devices.
1550-235X
245318-[10pp]
Lal, Niraj N.
133eacd7-e24c-4f1f-8445-e11896b05984
Zhou, Hang
e6311e21-1708-41e9-ac9b-bfdd834102b9
Hawkeye, Matthew
5bc24d0f-4f2e-43c4-9d95-f5033e9339bf
Sinha, Jatin
3eb3377f-c816-46a4-8e39-e30f3550594f
Bartlett, Philip N.
d99446db-a59d-4f89-96eb-f64b5d8bb075
Amaratunga, Gehan A. J.
4091d1b4-b15e-414c-996b-867342f3f102
Baumberg, Jeremy J.
51423b5f-bdb8-4851-8d50-472253ceb12c
Lal, Niraj N.
133eacd7-e24c-4f1f-8445-e11896b05984
Zhou, Hang
e6311e21-1708-41e9-ac9b-bfdd834102b9
Hawkeye, Matthew
5bc24d0f-4f2e-43c4-9d95-f5033e9339bf
Sinha, Jatin
3eb3377f-c816-46a4-8e39-e30f3550594f
Bartlett, Philip N.
d99446db-a59d-4f89-96eb-f64b5d8bb075
Amaratunga, Gehan A. J.
4091d1b4-b15e-414c-996b-867342f3f102
Baumberg, Jeremy J.
51423b5f-bdb8-4851-8d50-472253ceb12c

Lal, Niraj N., Zhou, Hang, Hawkeye, Matthew, Sinha, Jatin, Bartlett, Philip N., Amaratunga, Gehan A. J. and Baumberg, Jeremy J. (2012) Using spacer layers to control metal and semiconductor absorption in ultrathin solar cells with plasmonic substrates. Physical Review B, 85 (24), 245318-[10pp]. (doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.85.245318).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We systematically explore the performance of ultrathin amorphous silicon solar cells integrated on plasmonic substrates of several different morphologies. Angle-resolved reflectance, external quantum efficiency measurements, and finite-difference time-domain simulations highlight the importance of the spacer layer in determining the mode profiles to which light can couple. Coupling mechanisms are found to strongly differ between periodic silver nanovoid arrays and randomly textured silver substrates. Tailoring the spacer thickness leads to 50% higher quantum efficiencies and short-circuit current densities by tuning the coupling between the near-field and trapped modes with enhanced optical path lengths. The balance of absorption for the plasmonic near field at the metal/semiconductor interface is analytically derived for a broad range of leading photovoltaic materials. This yields key design principles for plasmonic thin-film solar cells, predicting strong near-field enhancement only for CdTe, CuInGaSe2, and organic polymer devices.

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More information

Published date: 25 June 2012
Organisations: Electrochemistry

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 349754
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/349754
ISSN: 1550-235X
PURE UUID: 9beaaf95-f507-4cab-aa3e-14e3d3f1ffd8
ORCID for Philip N. Bartlett: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7300-6900

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Date deposited: 08 Mar 2013 17:45
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:44

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Contributors

Author: Niraj N. Lal
Author: Hang Zhou
Author: Matthew Hawkeye
Author: Jatin Sinha
Author: Gehan A. J. Amaratunga
Author: Jeremy J. Baumberg

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