TiO2光学间隔层增强聚合物太阳能电池光吸收的分析

基于共轭聚合物给体材料聚3-己基噻吩（P3HT）和富勒烯衍生物受体材料（6,6）-苯基-C61（PCBM）共混的体异质结结构的聚合物太阳能电池因其空穴载流子迁移率低而限制了P3HT:PCBM功能层厚度,从而影响了器件对入射光的吸收、在聚合物功能层和反射电极间插入TiO₂光学间隔层可以使器件内电场重新分布并改善器件的光吸收.基于薄膜传递矩阵法计算了不同的P3HT:PCBM功能层厚度和TiO₂插入层厚度的器件内光电场和光吸收.理论分析证明:器件结构为铟锡氧化物（ITO）（100 nm）/聚3,4-乙撑二氧噻吩/聚苯乙烯磺酸盐PEDOT:PSS（40 nm）/P3HT:PCBM/TiO₂/LiF（1 nm）/Al（120 nm）时,插入10 nm厚的TiO₂膜层可以使器件的聚合物功能层厚度在减薄25 nm的同时增加16.3%的光子吸收数,并且不明显降低功能层的激子分离概率,即功能层和TiO₂光学间隔层厚度分别约为75和10 nm时的器件性能为宜,此结果通过器件性能实验得以证实.     

微纳光栅结构增强聚合物太阳能电池光吸收的研究

基于共轭聚合物给体材料P3HT和富勒烯衍生物受体材料PCBM共混的体异质结结构的聚合物太阳能电池,因其空穴载流子迁移率低而限制了P3HT:PCBM功能层厚度,从而影响了器件对入射光的吸收.在聚合物功能层表面引入微纳光栅结构可以使器件内电场重新分布并改善器件的光吸收.本文基于时域有限差分方法仿真得到了光栅周期为1μm,占空比为0.5以及入射波长分别为500和700 nm时二维器件内光电场分布;并基于严格耦合波分析方法计算得到了不同光栅深度和光栅占空比的器件光吸收.理论分析表明:插入微纳光栅结构后,由于光栅衍射增强作用使器件内出现了光聚焦现象;当占空比为0.5时,光栅深度为10 nm的器件在入射波长为512 nm时,器件光学吸收增加了4.2%.基于聚二甲基硅氧烷的微压印技术,制备了微纳光栅结构聚合物太阳能,器件结构为ITO/PEDOT:PSS光栅层/P3HT:PCBM/LiF/Al.该器件与平板器件的性能对比实验证实,通过在PEDOT:PSS上引入微纳光栅结构,器件能量转化效率增加了31%.     

Doctor-bladed Cu2ZnSnS4 light absorption layer for low-cost solar cell application

The doctor-blade method is investigated for the preparation of Cu2ZnSnS4 films for low-cost solar cell application.Cu2ZnSnS4 precursor powder,the main raw material for the doctor-blade paste,is synthesized by a simple ball-milling process.The doctor-bladed Cu2ZnSnS4 films are annealed in N2 ambient under various conditions and characterized by X-ray diffraction,ultraviolent/vis spectrophotometry,scanning electron microscopy,and current-voltage(J-V) meansurement.Our experimental results indicate that(i) the X-ray diffraction peaks of the Cu2ZnSnS4 precursor powder each show a red shift of about 0.4°;(ii) the high-temperature annealing process can effectively improve the crystallinity of the doctor-bladed Cu 2 ZnSnS 4,whereas an overlong annealing introduces defects;(iii) the band gap value of the doctor-bladed Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 is around 1.41 eV;(iv) the short-circuit current density,the open-circuit voltage,the fill factor,and the efficiency of the best Cu2ZnSnS4 solar cell obtained with the superstrate structure of fluorine-doped tin oxide glass/TiO2/In2S3/Cu2ZnSnS4/Mo are 7.82 mA/cm2,240 mV,0.29,and 0.55%,respectively.     

非晶硅太阳电池宽光谱陷光结构的优化设计

陷光是改善薄膜太阳电池光吸收进而提高其效率的关键技术之一. 以非晶硅（α-Si）薄膜太阳电池为例,设计了一种新的复合陷光结构：在Ag背电极与硅薄膜之间制备一维Ag纳米光栅,并通过保形生长在电池前表面沉积织构的减反膜. 采用有限元数值模拟方法,研究了该复合陷光结构对电池光吸收的影响,并对Ag纳米光栅的结构参数进行了优化. 模拟结果表明：该复合陷光结构可在宽光谱范围内较大地提高太阳电池的光吸收;当Ag纳米光栅的周期P为600 nm,高度H为90 nm,宽度W为180 nm时,在AM1.5光谱垂直入射条件下α-Si薄膜电池在300–800 nm波长范围内总的光吸收较无陷光结构的参考电池提高达103%,其中在650–750 nm长波范围内的光子吸收率提高达300%以上. 结合电场强度分布,对电池在各个波段光吸收提高的物理机制进行了分析. 另外,该复合陷光结构的引入,还较大地改善了非晶硅电池对太阳光入射角度的敏感性. 关键词： 非晶硅太阳电池 陷光 银纳米光栅 数值模拟     

纳米表面二维周期半圆凹槽增强硅薄膜太阳能电池光吸收

利用时域有限差分方法, 研究硅薄膜上下表面周期半圆凹槽结构对于太阳光吸收的增强效应. 研究发现这种结构可以实现太阳光宽波段的光吸收增强, 通过调节SiO₂表面减反层厚度和凹槽半径长度来实现薄膜太阳能电池最大的光吸收, 并实现了波长在300-1000 nm范围的太阳光吸收总能量比没有这种 结构下硅薄膜光吸收提高了约117%. 关键词： 硅薄膜 半圆凹槽 吸收增强     

纳米银增强聚合物太阳能电池光吸收的研究

基于共轭聚合物给体材料P3HT和富勒烯衍生物受体材料PCBM共混的体异质结结构 的聚合物太阳能电池因其空穴载流子迁移率低而限制了P3HT:PCBM功能层厚度, 从而影响了器件对入射光的吸收. 在聚合物功能层内引入金属纳米颗粒可以利用金属表面等离子体效应增强器件内电场并改善器件的光吸收. 本文基于时域有限差分法(finite difference time domain, FDTD)方法模拟得到了聚合物功能层内包含了直径为50 nm纳米银球并且球间距为50 nm的聚合物太阳能 电池器件在波长分别为400 nm和500 nm照射时的二维光电场分布以及入射角分别为15°, 45°, 60°时包覆纳米银聚合物功能层横截面内的光电场强度分布; 计算得到了银纳米颗粒尺寸分别为10 nm, 20 nm和50 nm时以及分布在空穴传输层PEDOT:PSS的纳米银器件的光吸收; 并计算了斜入射时包覆纳米银的聚合物功能层光吸收. 理论分析表明: 聚合物功能层加入纳米银球后, 因为纳米银球的表面等离子体效应使入射光在功能层内散射增强而使器件内的光电场重新分布; 直径较大的纳米银颗粒能产生大角度的光散射, 更有利于聚合物功能层对光的吸收. 这里, 基于有机银盐还原法制备了纳米银颗粒并制备了银等离子体增强的聚合物太阳能电池, 其结构为: glass/ITO (～100 nm)/PEDOT:PSS (40 nm)/P3HT:PCBM (～100 nm)(nano-Ag)/LiF (1 nm)/Al (120 nm). 该器件与平板器件的性能对比实验证实: 通过在聚合物功能层内上引入纳米银颗粒可以有 效增加器件光吸收并改善器件电学性能, 器件外量子效率在520 nm处最大增加了17.9%. 关键词： 纳米银 表面等离子体共振 时域有限差分 聚合物太阳能电池     

NiO_x作为空穴传输层对有机太阳能电池光吸收的影响

基于多层膜系模型的传输矩阵方法、麦克斯韦方程和光子吸收方程,研究了NiOx作为替代3,4-乙撑二氧噻吩:聚苯乙烯磺酸盐(PEDOT:PSS)的空穴传输材料对聚3-己噻吩(P3HT)和富勒烯衍生物([6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester,PC61BM)共混体异质结有机太阳能电池器件内部光电场分布和光吸收特性的影响.分别制备了以NiOx和PEDOT:PSS为空穴传输层,P3HT:PCBM为活性层的有机太阳能电池,并通过数值模拟的方法比较了NiOx和PEDOT:PSS两种空穴传输材料对器件光伏特性的影响.结果表明:10 nm的NiOx空穴传输层器件比40 nm的PEDOT:PSS器件获得了更大的短路电流和填充因子,并具有更高的能量转化效率.     

Doctor-bladed Cu2ZnSnS4 light absorption layer for low-cost solar cell application

The doctor-blade method is investigated for the preparation of Cu₂ZnSnS₄ films for low-cost solar cell application. Cu₂ZnSnS₄ precursor powder, the main raw material for the doctor-blade paste, is synthesized by a simple ball-milling process. The doctor-bladed Cu₂ZnSnS₄ films are annealed in N₂ ambient under various conditions and characterized by X-ray diffraction, ultraviolent/vis spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy, and current-voltage (J-V) meansurement. Our experimental results indicate that (i) the X-ray diffraction peaks of the Cu₂ZnSnS₄ precursor powder each show a red shift of about 0.4°; (ii) the high-temperature annealing process can effectively improve the crystallinity of the doctor-bladed Cu₂ZnSnS₄, whereas an overlong annealing introduces defects; (iii) the band gap value of the doctor-bladed Cu₂ZnSnS₄ is around 1.41 eV; (iv) the short-circuit current density, the open-circuit voltage, the fill factor, and the efficiency of the best Cu₂ZnSnS₄ solar cell obtained with the superstrate structure of fluorine-doped tin oxide glass/TiO₂/In₂S₃/Cu₂ZnSnS₄/Mo are 7.82 mA/cm², 240 mV, 0.29, and 0.55%, respectively.     

Plasmon enhanced light absorption in bulk heterojunction organic solar cells

Silver nanospheres (Ag NSs) buffer layers were introduced via a solution casting process to enhance the light absorption in poly (3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]‐phenyl‐C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) bulk heterojunction organic solar cells. These Ag NSs, as surface plasmons, could increase the optical electric field in the photoactive layer whilst simultaneously improving the light scattering. As a result, this buffer layer improves the light absorption of P3HT:PCBM blend and consequently improves the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of organic solar cells. In this work, different sizes of Ag NSs plasmon‐enhanced layer were investigated, with the aim of optimizing the performance of devices. UV‐vis spectrometer measurement demonstrates that the total optical absorption of P3HT:PCBM blend films in the spectral range of 350–650 nm is increased by ～4 and 6% with incorporation of the 20 and 40 nm Ag NSs, respectively. The J_sc was shown to increase by ～21 and 24% for 20 and 40 nm Ag NSs, respectively. This is due to the extra photogenerated excitons by the plasmonic resonance of Ag NSs. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Taking into account nonselective absorption of light in atomic absorption analysis

We propose a method for quantitatively taking into account nonselective absorption for systems in which the vapor phase contains a single molecular form: sodium and potassium chlorides and iodides. We identified the absorption bands using modern quantum chemistry methods. We have demonstrated good agreement between the experimental data and the calculations. We have tested the correctness of the method we developed for the example of determining known silicon and iron contents in potassium chloride and sodium iodide. Differences between the results obtained and the true elemental contents were random. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 73, No. 3, pp. 397–400, May–June, 2006.     

Modulation of light absorption by optical spacer in perovskite solar cells

Lead halide perovskite solar cells with planar heterojunction configuration have recently attracted tremendous attention because of their excellent power conversion efficiencies. The modulation of optical absorption by using an optical spacer layer is a unique method to enhance the device efficiency. Here, we demonstrate the application of thin ZnO layer that act as an optical spacer that enhance the power conversion efficiency perovskite devices from 8.92% to 10.7%, which is mainly due to increment in short‐circuit current density by 16% compared to the reference solar cell. The simulation data revealed that ZnO acts as an optical spacer layer that shifts length (average) of electric field |E|² distribution from 500 nm to 750 nm wavelength is 25 nm in the perovskite layer. Which represents that exciton generation region is moved to near the hole transport layer that enhances the exciton dissociation efficiency and device efficiency.     

Inverse relation between photocurrent and absorption layer thickness in polymer solar cells

Organic solar cells based on polymer–fullerene bulk heterojunctions were optimised with respect to the short circuit photocurrent by means of optical modelling. Due to interference effects present in the thin film multilayer device, an inverse relation between active layer thickness and photocurrent was predicted and experimentally verified. Optimised photovoltaic devices yield power conversion efficiencies of 4%. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Broadband absorption enhancement in randomly positioned silicon nanowire arrays for solar cell applications

In this Letter, the optical properties of randomly positioned silicon nanowire arrays are studied. The result shows that position randomization with a filling ratio larger than 36% renders better absorptance over a broadband ranging from 300 to 1130 nm compared to regular structures. The ultimate efficiency of a 48% filling ratio position randomized nanowire structure is 13.4% higher compared to the optimized regularly arranged nanowire structure with the same thickness. The absorptance enhancement of random structures is attributed to lowered reflectance, more supported resonant modes, and broadening of existing resonance.     

Enhancing light absorption for organic solar cells using front ITO nanograting and back ultrathin Al layer

To address the discrepancy between carrier collection and light absorption of organic solar cells caused by the limited carrier mobility and optical absorption coefficient for the normally employed organic photoactive layers, a light management structure composed of a front indium tin oxide(ITO) nanograting and ultrathin Al layer inserted in between the photoactive layer and the electron transport layer(ETL) is introduced. Owing to the antireflection and light scattering induced by the ITO nanograting and the suppression of light absorption in the ETL by the inserted Al layer, the light absorption of the photoactive layer is significantly enhanced in a spectral range from 400 nm to 650 nm that also covers the main energy region of solar irradiation for the normally employed active materials such as the P3HT:PC_(61) BM blend. The simulation results indicate that comparing with the control device with a planar configuration of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PC_(61) BM(80-nm thick)/Zn O/Al, the short-circuit current density and power conversion efficiency of the optimized light management structure can be improved by 32.86% and 34.46%. Moreover, good omnidirectional light management is observed for the proposed device structure. Owing to the fact that the light management structure possesses the simple structure and excellent performance, the exploration of such a structure can be believed to be significant in fabricating the thin film-based optoelectronic devices.     

Enhanced light absorption in thin-film tandem solar cells using a bottom metallic nanograting

We introduced a metallic nanograting at the bottom of thin-film tandem solar cells, and carried out an investigation into the light absorption in the top and bottom cells via the electromagnetic simulation. It indicates that broadband and polarization-insensitive light absorption enhancement can be obtained in the bottom cell, while the light absorption in the top cell remains unchanged by the influence of the added metallic nanograting. An overall carrier generation enhancement reaches as much as 60 % for both incident polarizations. This absorption enhancement can survive in a wide range of the cell thickness and the nanograting geometries, which enables us to reduce the thickness of the bottom cell with minimal impact on the light absorption. Thereby, this design could reduce the solar cell production cost, and meanwhile could enhance the solar cell efficiency by decreasing the light-generated carrier recombination rate.     

Silver nanoparticles on conducting electrode: a simple two-step process for realizing plasmonic solar cell design

In this paper we address the introduction of antenna’s radiation pattern agility using an agile metamaterial. We design an agile metamaterial having two different behaviors which can be controlled by an external command. This agile metamaterial is used to design an agile lens which comprises two grids each composed of two regions: the first one constitutes a focusing zone (FZ) and the second one the lens body. The focusing zone parameters—refraction index, size, shape and position in the grid—can be modified using an external switching system (OFF or ON stat); by modifying the FZ parameters one can control the patch antenna’s radiation-pattern main-lobe beamwidth and direction (pointing angle) in E- and H-planes.     

Design of periodic metal-insulator-metal waveguide back structures for the enhancement of light absorption in thin-film solar cells

To increase the absorption in a thin layer of absorbing material (amorphous silicon, a-Si), a light trapping design is presented. The designed structure incorporates periodic metal-insulator-metal waveguides to enhance the optical path length of light within the solar cells. The new design can result in broadband optical absorption enhancement not only for transverse magnetic (TM)-polarized light, but also for transverse electric (TE)-polarized light. No plasmonic modes can be excited in TE-polarization, but because of the coupling into the a-Si planar waveguide guiding modes and the diffraction of light by the bottom periodic structures into higher diffraction orders, the total absorption in the active region is also increased. The results from rigorous coupled wave analysis show that the overall optical absorption in the active layer can be greatly enhanced by up to 40%. The designed structures presented in this paper can be integrated with back contact technology to potentially produce high-efficiency thin-film solar cell devices.     

Rare earth based clusters for nanoscale light source

We investigate the fundamental properties of films resulting from the deposition of Eu³⁺ doped Gd₂O₃ clusters. We first report that the crystalline structure of clusters with diameter as low as 2.8 nm is still BCC (as in the bulk phase at ambient temperature and pressure). No phase transition to monoclinic structure is observed. We show that contamination from air (formation of hydroxide) is important and leads to the modification of the luminescence of the Eu³⁺ ions. Furthermore, films protected from this contamination have been fabricated and show a new feature (broad peak at 625 nm). It means that contamination is not the only mechanism responsible for the modification of the light emission spectrum. The crystal field symmetry breaking induced by the surface also plays a major role. Eventually, we show that the widening of the optical gap continues for these very small clusters. We discuss this effect in the frame of the quantum confinement model.