Silicon nanospheres for directional scattering in thin-film solar cells

Poonam Shokeen; Amit Jain; Avinashi Kapoor

doi:10.1117/1.JNP.10.036013

23 August 2016 Silicon nanospheres for directional scattering in thin-film solar cells

Poonam Shokeen, Amit Jain, Avinashi Kapoor

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Nanophotonics, Vol. 10, Issue 3, 036013 (August 2016). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JNP.10.036013

Abstract

Reducing active layer thickness of solar cell stresses on efficient light trapping mechanisms to keep the cell efficiency intact. Directional light scattering and promising refractive index of silicon nanoparticles make them encouraging scattering centers for thin-film silicon solar cells. Finite-difference time-domain simulations are used to study the optical properties of silicon nanospheres embedded in the top and bottom buffer layer of solar cells. Diameter of a silicon nanoparticle plays a crucial role in the forward and backward scattering of incident light into the cell. Silicon nanospheres outperform commonly used metallic and dielectric nanospheres and trapped the incident light over a broad spectrum. Silicon nanospheres require special attention when placed in both the buffer layers of the solar cell simultaneously, and lateral displacement of the silicon nanospheres at the top buffer layer with respect to nanospheres at the bottom buffer layer is beneficial. Lateral displacement of nanospheres provides a total quantum efficiency of 51.49% in comparison to 21.9% of the pristine cell. These exceptional scattering competencies of silicon nanospheres make them a promising candidate for photovoltaic applications. Silicon scatterers may be used with well-established fabrication techniques.

Citation Download Citation

Poonam Shokeen, Amit Jain, and Avinashi Kapoor "Silicon nanospheres for directional scattering in thin-film solar cells," Journal of Nanophotonics 10(3), 036013 (23 August 2016). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JNP.10.036013

Published: 23 August 2016

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available