Investigation of semiconductor nanostructures photovoltaic for next generation solar cells

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the electromagnetic performance of various potential semiconductor nanostructures photovoltaic for future solar cells. GaAs is used as the semiconductor for this particular study. Nanostructures such as nanocones, nanopillars, and nanoprisms are compared systematically for their reflection and absorbance properties. The presence of nanostructures reduces the optical reflection and increases absorption as compared to conventional flat cell geometries. Initial studies show that nanocones and nanoprisms have the very good electromagnetic performance in terms of reflection and absorption over the solar spectrum. It is also shown that the nanocone arrays have robust performance for different polarizations and angles of incidence making them an attractive solution for solar cell designs.