Nanophotonic light trapping in polycrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells using periodically nanoimprint-structured glass substrates

Christiane Becker; Jolly Xavier; Veit Preidel; Philippe Wyss; Tobias Sontheimer; Bernd Rech; Jürgen Probst; Christoph Hülsen; Bernd Löchel; Alexei Erko; Sven Burger; Frank Schmidt; Franziska Back; Eveline Rudigier-Voigt

doi:10.1117/12.2023871

25 September 2013 Nanophotonic light trapping in polycrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells using periodically nanoimprint-structured glass substrates

Christiane Becker, Jolly Xavier, Veit Preidel, Philippe Wyss, Tobias Sontheimer, Bernd Rech, Jürgen Probst, Christoph Hülsen, Bernd Löchel, Alexei Erko, Sven Burger, Frank Schmidt, Franziska Back, Eveline Rudigier-Voigt

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8824, Next Generation (Nano) Photonic and Cell Technologies for Solar Energy Conversion IV; 88240D (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2023871
Event: SPIE Solar Energy + Technology, 2013, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

A smart light trapping scheme is essential to tap the full potential of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin-film solar cells. Periodic nanophotonic structures are of particular interest as they allow to substantially surpass the Lambertian limit from ray optics in selected spectral ranges. We use nanoimprint-lithography for the periodic patterning of sol-gel coated glass substrates, ensuring a cost-effective, large-area production of thin-film solar cell devices. Periodic crystalline silicon nanoarchitectures are prepared on these textured substrates by high-rate silicon film evaporation, solid phase crystallization and chemical etching. Poly-Si microhole arrays in square lattice geometry with an effective thickness of about 2μm and with comparatively large pitch (2 μm) exhibit a large absorption enhancement (A900nm = 52%) compared to a planar film (A900nm ~ 7%). For the optimization of light trapping in the desired spectral region, the geometry of the nanophotonic structures with varying pitch from 600 nm to 800 nm is tailored and investigated for the cases of poly-Si nanopillar arrays of hexagonal lattice geometry, exhibiting an increase in absorption in comparison to planar film attributed to nanophotonic wave optic effects. These structures inspire the design of prospective applications such as highly-efficient nanostructured poly-Si thin-film solar cells and large-area photonic crystals.

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Christiane Becker, Jolly Xavier, Veit Preidel, Philippe Wyss, Tobias Sontheimer, Bernd Rech, Jürgen Probst, Christoph Hülsen, Bernd Löchel, Alexei Erko, Sven Burger, Frank Schmidt, Franziska Back, and Eveline Rudigier-Voigt "Nanophotonic light trapping in polycrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells using periodically nanoimprint-structured glass substrates", Proc. SPIE 8824, Next Generation (Nano) Photonic and Cell Technologies for Solar Energy Conversion IV, 88240D (25 September 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2023871

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KEYWORDS

Silicon

Absorption

Crystals

Glasses

Nanophotonics

Silicon films

Thin film solar cells

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