Over 65% sunlight absorption in a 1 mu m Si slab with hyperuniform texture
File(s)
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Thin, flexible, and invisible solar cells will be a ubiquitous technology in the near future. Ultrathin crystalline silicon (c-Si) cells capitalize on the success of bulk silicon cells while being lightweight and mechanically flexible, but suffer from poor absorption and efficiency. Here we present a new family of surface texturing, based on correlated disordered hyperuniform patterns, capable of efficiently coupling the incident spectrum into the silicon slab optical modes. We experimentally demonstrate 66.5% solar light absorption in free-standing 1 μm c-Si layers by hyperuniform nanostructuring for the spectral range of 400 to 1050 nm. The absorption equivalent photocurrent derived from our measurements is 26.3 mA/cm2, which is far above the highest found in literature for Si of similar thickness. Considering state-of-the-art Si PV technologies, we estimate that the enhanced light trapping can result in a cell efficiency above 15%. The light absorption can potentially be increased up to 33.8 mA/cm2 by incorporating a back-reflector and improved antireflection, for which we estimate a photovoltaic efficiency above 21% for 1 μm thick Si cells.
Date Issued
2022-04-20
Date Acceptance
2022-03-01
Citation
ACS Photonics, 2022, 9 (4), pp.1206-1217
ISSN
2330-4022
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Start Page
1206
End Page
1217
Journal / Book Title
ACS Photonics
Volume
9
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. This work is published under a CC BY 4.0 International licence.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000795895600015&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Physical Sciences
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Optics
Physics, Applied
Physics, Condensed Matter
Science & Technology - Other Topics
Materials Science
Physics
ultrathin photovoltaics
light trapping
hyperuniform correlated
SILICON SOLAR-CELLS
WAVE-GUIDES
LIGHT
THIN
EFFICIENCY
DESIGN
DENSITY
LIMITS
COLOR
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-03-22