Optical absorption enhancement in 3D nanofibers coated on polymer substrate for photovoltaic devices

Abstract

<p>Recent research in the field of photovoltaics has shown that polymer solar cells have great potential to provide low-cost, lightweight and flexible electronic devices to harvest solar energy. In this paper, we propose a new method for the generation of three-dimensional nanofibers coated on polymer substrate induced by femtosecond laser pulses. In this new method, a thin layer of polymer is irradiated by megahertz femtosecond laser pulses under ambient conditions, and a thin fibrous layer is generated on top of the polymer substrate. This method is single step; no additional materials are added, and the layers of the three-dimensional (3D) polymer nanofibrous structures are grown on top of the substrate after laser irradiation. Light spectroscopy results show significant enhancement of light absorption in the generated 3D nanofibrous layers of polymer. Finally, we suggest how to maximize the light trapping and optical absorption of the generated nanofiber cells by optimizing the laser parameters.</p>