Tandem Photonic-Crystal Thin Films Surpassing Lambertian Light-Trapping Limit over Broad Bandwidth and Angular Range

Random surface texturing of an optically-thick film to increase the path length of scattered light rays, first proposed nearly thirty years ago, has thus far remained the most effective approach for photon absorption over the widest set of conditions. Here using recent advances in computational elec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2013-12
Main Authors: Oskooi, Ardavan, Tanaka, Yoshinori, Noda, Susumu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Electrodynamics
Photon absorption
Photonic crystals
Photovoltaic cells
Silicon films
Texturing
Thin films
Trapping
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Summary:Random surface texturing of an optically-thick film to increase the path length of scattered light rays, first proposed nearly thirty years ago, has thus far remained the most effective approach for photon absorption over the widest set of conditions. Here using recent advances in computational electrodynamics we describe a general strategy for the design of a silicon thin film applicable to photovoltaic cells based on a quasi-resonant approach to light trapping where two partially-disordered photonic-crystal slabs, stacked vertically on top of each other, have large absorption that surpasses the Lambertian limit over a broad bandwidth and angular range.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.1304.5329