title: Modeling light trapping in nanostructured solar cells.
abstract: The integration of nanophotonic and plasmonic structures with solar cells offers the ability to control and confine light in nanoscale dimensions. These nanostructures can be used to couple incident sunlight into both localized and guided modes, enhancing absorption while reducing the quantity of material. Here we use electromagnetic modeling to study the resonances in a solar cell containing both plasmonic metal back contacts and nanostructured semiconductor top contacts, identify the local and guided modes contributing to enhanced absorption, and optimize the design. We then study the role of the different interfaces and show that Al is a viable plasmonic back contact material.
authors.affiliation: Thomas J. Watson Laboratories of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States. veferry@lbl.gov
authors.forename: Vivian E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Ferry
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Polman
authors.forename: Harry A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Atwater
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008027:Light; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012666:Semiconductors; D012993:Solar Energy