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Excitation of plasmon and guided-mode resonances in thin film silicon solar cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2012

F.-J. Haug ,
K. Söderström ,
A. Naqavi ,
C. Battaglia  and
C. Ballif
F.-J. Haug
Affiliation:
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory, Rue A.-L. Breguet 2, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
K. Söderström
Affiliation:
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory, Rue A.-L. Breguet 2, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
A. Naqavi
Affiliation:
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory, Rue A.-L. Breguet 2, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
C. Battaglia
Affiliation:
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory, Rue A.-L. Breguet 2, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
C. Ballif
Affiliation:
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory, Rue A.-L. Breguet 2, CH-2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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Abstract

Thin film silicon solar cells are an attractive option for the production of sustainable energy but their low response at long wavelengths requires additional measures for absorption enhancement. The most successful concepts are based on light scattering interface textures whose understanding is greatly facilitated by considering a superposition of periodic textures that diffract the light into oblique angles, ideally beyond the critical angle of total internal reflection. Because the thickness of the active layers is on the same scale as the wavelength, interference of diffracted waves gives rise to resonance phenomena. We discuss the absorption enhancement in terms of a perturbation approach using the modal structure of a corresponding device with flat interfaces.

Keywords

amorphousSiphotovoltaic
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1391: Symposium J – Photonic and Plasmonic Materials for Enhanced Photovoltaic Performance , 2012 , mrsf11-1391-j06-06
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2012

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References

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