Ultrathin monochromatic photonic power converters with nanostructured back mirror for light trapping of 1310-nm laser illumination

Abstract

Photonic power converters (PPCs) are one of the main components of optical power transmission systems, generating electrical power via the photovoltaic effect. We simulate ultrathin PPCs designed for operating at the telecommunication wavelength of 1310 nm with 9 and 12 times thinner absorbing layers using cubic and pyramidal nanostructured back reflectors (BRs), respectively. While increasing efficiency by 13% (rel.) over conventional PPCs, results also show superior light trapping for pyramidal BR with twice the absorption of a simple double pass absorber layer of the same thickness and higher short-circuit current for pillar BR reaching 94% of an ideal Lambertian surface.