Controlling optical absorption in metamaterial absorbers for plasmonic solar cells

Wyatt Adams; Ankit Vora; Jephias Gwamuri; Joshua M. Pearce; Durdu Ö. Güney

doi:10.1117/12.2190396

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31 August 2015 Controlling optical absorption in metamaterial absorbers for plasmonic solar cells

Wyatt Adams, Ankit Vora, Jephias Gwamuri, Joshua M. Pearce, Durdu Ö. Güney

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Proceedings Volume 9546, Active Photonic Materials VII; 95461M (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2190396
Event: SPIE Nanoscience + Engineering, 2015, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Metals in the plasmonic metamaterial absorbers for photovoltaics constitute undesired resistive heating. However, tailoring the geometric skin depth of metals can minimize resistive losses while maximizing the optical absorbance in the active semiconductors of the photovoltaic device. Considering experimental permittivity data for In_xGa_1-xN, absorbance in the semiconductor layers of the photovoltaic device can reach above 90%. The results here also provides guidance to compare the performance of different semiconductor materials. This skin depth engineering approach can also be applied to other optoelectronic devices, where optimizing the device performance demands minimizing resistive losses and power consumption, such as photodetectors, laser diodes, and light emitting diodes.

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Wyatt Adams, Ankit Vora, Jephias Gwamuri, Joshua M. Pearce, and Durdu Ö. Güney "Controlling optical absorption in metamaterial absorbers for plasmonic solar cells", Proc. SPIE 9546, Active Photonic Materials VII, 95461M (31 August 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2190396

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