Effective light trapping by modulated quantum structures for Si nanowire/wall solar cells

The quantum size effect allows the use of silicon nanowires and nanowalls for the top cell of all-Si tandem solar cells by tuning the band gap. However, these Si nanostructures are far thinner than the wavelength of visible light in the direction of amplitude, so the incoming light cannot concentrat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Japanese Journal of Applied Physics 2015-10, Vol.54 (10), p.102301
Main Authors: Kanematsu, Daiji, Yata, Shigeo, Terakawa, Akira, Tanaka, Makoto, Konagai, Makoto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorption
Finite difference method
Mathematical analysis
Nanostructure
Nanowires
Photovoltaic cells
Silicon
Solar cells
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Summary:The quantum size effect allows the use of silicon nanowires and nanowalls for the top cell of all-Si tandem solar cells by tuning the band gap. However, these Si nanostructures are far thinner than the wavelength of visible light in the direction of amplitude, so the incoming light cannot concentrate in the Si nanostructures, resulting in low absorption. Our calculations using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method show that the absorption of Si nanowires and nanowalls with a diameter of 10 nm depends on their arrangement. We have found an effective optical confinement structure for Si nanowalls that is compatible with the quantum size effect.
ISSN:0021-4922
1347-4065
DOI:10.7567/JJAP.54.102301