Rare-earth doped glasses and light managing in solar cells

G.C. Righini,F. Enrichi,M. Ferrari,L. Zur

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1221/1/012028

G.C. Righini, F. Enrichi + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1221/1/012028

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Abstract

Glasses doped with rare earth elements possess unique photoluminescence properties. They find application in several devices, such as lasers, optical amplifiers, and sensors. More recently, rare-earth doped glass thin films have been the subject of investigation for the development of frequency-converting layers able to increase the efficiency of silicon solar cells. Another approach to the improvement of the performance of a solar cell is based on the capture of a larger flux of light by the detector, which can be obtained by surface texture, plasmonics, or waveguide structures. Here, the recent advances in this area will be briefly reviewed.

Highlights

Rare earth (RE) elements, discovered at various times between the end of XVIII century and mid XX century, are indispensable in many electronic, optical and magnetic applications
Glasses doped with rare earth elements possess unique photoluminescence properties
Rare-earth doped glass thin films have been the subject of investigation for the development of frequency-converting layers able to increase the efficiency of silicon solar cells

Summary

Introduction

Rare earth (RE) elements, discovered at various times between the end of XVIII century and mid XX century, are indispensable in many electronic, optical and magnetic applications. Rare-earth doped glass thin films have been the subject of investigation for the development of frequency-converting layers able to increase the efficiency of silicon solar cells.

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