Simulation of light trapping in thin film silicon solar cell using TCAD tools

In order to increase the efficiency of thin film solar cells, the nanostructure of these cells has to be optimized. Textured interfaces are introduced to improve light trapping and boost the conversion efficiency. Periodic triangular structure leads to scattering and higher order diffraction resulting in an increased absorption of the incident light in the microcrystalline silicon thin film solar cell. Two dimensional numerical analysises based on the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is developed. The distribution of the optical generation is shown for different textured structures and smooth structure. The periodic triangular structure was optimized to achieve higher short circuit currents and quantum efficiencies.