On understanding the enhancement of optical absorption in nanostructure photovoltaic solar cells

Author

Brockett, Timothy ; Rajagopalan, Harish ; Rahmat-Samii, Yahya

Author_Institution

Electr. Eng. Dept., Univ. of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

fYear

2012

fDate

8-14 July 2012

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

2

Abstract

Understanding the enhancement of optical absorption in nanostructure photovoltaic (PV) solar cells, specifically GaAs core-shell nanopillar arrays, is accomplished through the full-wave electromagnetic characterization of the optical electric fields. Inherent advantageous electromagnetic properties of reduced reflection, increased absorption, and angle of incidence independence can be understood through the absorption mechanism that is a function of the interaction of the incident electric field with the nanopillar structure, materials, and configuration. The role of nanopillar structure versus the role of the nanopillar materials in optical absorption will be revealed by comparing nanopillars using purely perfectly electric conducting (PEC) materials with that of nanopillars using semiconductor material. Also, further development of nanopillar design will be suggested from an absorption aspect.

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; conducting materials; electric fields; gallium arsenide; light absorption; nanostructured materials; solar cell arrays; GaAs; PEC material; PV solar cell; angle of incidence independence; core-shell nanopillar array structure material; full-wave electromagnetic property characterization; nanostructure photovoltaic solar cell; optical absorption enhancement; optical electric field; perfectly electric conducting material; semiconductor material; Absorption; Materials; Optical imaging; Optical reflection; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic systems;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium (APSURSI), 2012 IEEE

Conference_Location

Chicago, IL

ISSN

1522-3965

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-0461-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/APS.2012.6349216

Filename

6349216