Inverse optimization of plasmonic and antireflective grating in thin film PV cells

Shima Hajimirza, John Howell

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

This work addresses inverse optimization of three dimensional front and back surface texture grating specifications, for the purpose of shaping the absorptivity spectrum of silicon thin film cells in targeted ways. Periodic plasmonic gratings with dimensions comparable or less than the incident light wavelength are known to enhance light absorption. We consider surface patterning of amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin films using front and/or back metallic nanostrips and ITO coatings, and show that wideband enhancement in unpolarized absorptivity spectrum can be achieved when back reflectors are used. The overall short circuit current enhancement using such structures is significant and can be as high as 97%. For TM-polarized wave it can be even higher as reported in previous work. In this work however, we focus on the optimization for the more realistic unpolarized radiation which is of significantly higher complexity. In addition, optimization is done with respect to two objective functions independently: spectral absorptivity and gain-bandwidth product of the absorptivity spectrum.

Original languageEnglish
Article number012015
JournalJournal of Physics: Conference Series
Volume369
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012
EventEurotherm Conference No. 95: Computational Thermal Radiation in Participating Media IV - Nancy, France
Duration: 18 Apr 201220 Apr 2012

Keywords

  • Inverse optimization
  • Spectral absorptivity
  • Thin film solar cells

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