Study of ultrathin‐film amorphous silicon solar cell performance using photonic and plasmonic nanostructure

Abstract

The photonic and plasmonic nanostructures are highly feasible for enhanced light trapping mechanisms. These nanostructures hold great promises for better photovoltaic performance by yielding the highest light-harvesting photons within the few nanometer absorber regions. The shed light on the nano-scaled structures (thin films and nanogratings) is responsible for the highest scattering mechanism with the omnidirectional diffraction angles and enhanced life time of the photons. In this research work, we have focused on improved ultrathin film amorphous silicon (a-Si) solar cell performance, which was integrated by top-SiO2 and bottom-Ag nanogratings as a backside reflector by using rigorous coupled-wave analysis method. The SiO2 antireflection coating, nanogratings, and absorber (a-Si) layer thicknesses were optimized for better photovoltaic performance. With the influence of optimization parameters, the highest current density of 27.03 and 33.53 mA/cm2 were obtained from transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarization conditions due to the surface guided-mode, Fabry–Perot resonance, surface excitation, localized fields, and surface plasmon polariton modes.