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Thin Film Si Photovoltaic Devices on Photonic Structures Fabricated on Steel and Polymer Substrates.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2011

S. Pattnaik ,
N. Chakravarty ,
J. Bhattacharya ,
R. Biswas ,
D. Slafer  and
V.L. Dalal
S. Pattnaik
Affiliation:
Electrical and Comp. Engr., Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa;
N. Chakravarty
Affiliation:
Electrical and Comp. Engr., Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa;
J. Bhattacharya
Affiliation:
Electrical and Comp. Engr., Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa;
R. Biswas
Affiliation:
Electrical and Comp. Engr., Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa;
D. Slafer
Affiliation:
Lightwave Power, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
V.L. Dalal
Affiliation:
Electrical and Comp. Engr., Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa;
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Abstract

In this paper, we report on the growth and fabrication of thin film Si photovoltaic devices on photonic structures which were fabricated on steel and PEN and Kapton substrates. Both amorphous Si and thin film nanocrystalline Si devices were fabricated. The 2 dimensional photonic reflector structures were designed using a scattering matrix theory and consisted of appropriately designed holes/pillars which were imprinted into a polymer layer coated onto PEN, Kapton and stainless steel substrates. The photonic structures were coated with a thin layer of Ag and ZnO. Both single junction and tandem junction (amorphous/amorphous and amorphous/nanocrystalline) cells were fabricated on the photonic layers. It was observed that the greatest increase in short circuit current and efficiency in these cells due to the use of photonic reflectors was in nanocrystalline Si cells, where an increase in current approaching 30% (compared to devices fabricated on flat substrates) was obtained for thin (∼ 1 micrometer thick i layers) films of nano Si deposited on steel structures. The photonic structures (which were nanoimprinted into a polymer) were shown to stand up to temperatures as large as 300 C, thereby making such structures practical when a steel (or glass) of kapton substrate is used. Detailed measurements and discussion of quantum efficiency and device performance for various photonic back reflector structures on steel, kapton and PEN substrates will be presented in the paper.

Keywords

Siphotovoltaicoptoelectronic
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1321: Symposium A – Amorphous and Polycrystalline Thin-Film Silicon Science and Technology , 2011 , mrss11-1321-a16-04
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

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References

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