Design Guidelines for Si(1 1 1) Inclined Nanohole Arrays in Thin-Film Solar Cells

Author

Hong, Liang ; Rusli ; Wang, X.C. ; Zheng, H.Y. ; Wang, Huifang ; Yu, H.Y.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Nanyang Technol. Univ., Singapore, Singapore

Volume

13

Issue

3

fYear

2014

fDate

May-14

Firstpage

431

Lastpage

436

Abstract

In this paper, the slanting silicon nanohole (SiNH) structure is systematically designed and analyzed by simulation using the finite-element method. The slanting angle of the SiNH structure is fixed at 40° based on the Si(111) wafer. The impact of the SiNH diameter (D) and structural periodicity (P) on the light absorption has been examined. It is found that the absorption is significantly enhanced due to the much suppressed light reflection on the top surface and the strong light trapping ability of the slanting SiNH structure. At the P of 700 nm and D/ P ratio of 0.85, the optimal structural parameters are achieved with the highest ultimate efficiency of 32.9%. It is higher than that of the vertical SiNH structure counterpart which has a value of 29.7%. The physical mechanism of the enhanced light absorption is also discussed.

Keywords

elemental semiconductors; finite element analysis; nanostructured materials; reflectivity; semiconductor thin films; silicon; solar cells; visible spectra; Si; Si(111) inclined nanohole arrays; SiNH diameter; finite-element method; light absorption; light reflection; light trapping ability; slanting angle; slanting silicon nanohole structure; structural periodicity; thin-film solar cells; Absorption; Etching; Nanostructures; Periodic structures; Photovoltaic cells; Reflection; Silicon; Light absorption; Solar cell; nanostructures; silicon;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nanotechnology, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1536-125X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TNANO.2013.2274153

Filename

6564447