Abstract
In this paper we discuss on light management in silicon thin film solar cells, using photoniccrystal (PhC) structures. We particularly focus on photovoltaic devices including amorphoussilicon absorbers patterned as 2D PhCs. Physical principles and design rules leading to theoptimized configuration of the patterned cell are discussed by means of optical simulationsperformed on realistic thin film solar cell stacks. Theoretically, a maximum increase of40%rel in integrated absorption in the a-Si:H layer of the patterned cell is expected compared tothe unpatterned case. Moreover, both simulation and optical characterization of thefabricated cells demonstrate the robustness of their optical properties with regard to theangle of incidence of the light and to the fabrication induced defects in the PhCs. Finally,the impact of surface recombination due to the generation of new free surfaces with higherdefect densities is addressed. We demonstrate that patterning still induces a substantialincrease in the conversion efficiency, with a reasonable surface recombination velocity.
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