Smooth anti-reflective three-dimensional textures for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells on glass
Abstract Recently, liquid phase crystallization of thin silicon films has emerged as a candidate for thin-film photovoltaics. On 10 μm thin absorbers, wafer-equivalent morphologies and open-circuit voltages were reached, leading to 13.2% record efficiency. However, short-circuit current densities ar...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2017-06-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-02874-y |
| _version_ | 1818839757685260288 |
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| author | David Eisenhauer Grit Köppel Klaus Jäger Duote Chen Oleksandra Shargaieva Paul Sonntag Daniel Amkreutz Bernd Rech Christiane Becker |
| author_facet | David Eisenhauer Grit Köppel Klaus Jäger Duote Chen Oleksandra Shargaieva Paul Sonntag Daniel Amkreutz Bernd Rech Christiane Becker |
| author_sort | David Eisenhauer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Recently, liquid phase crystallization of thin silicon films has emerged as a candidate for thin-film photovoltaics. On 10 μm thin absorbers, wafer-equivalent morphologies and open-circuit voltages were reached, leading to 13.2% record efficiency. However, short-circuit current densities are still limited, mainly due to optical losses at the glass-silicon interface. While nano-structures at this interface have been shown to efficiently reduce reflection, up to now these textures caused a deterioration of electronic silicon material quality. Therefore, optical gains were mitigated due to recombination losses. Here, the SMooth Anti-Reflective Three-dimensional (SMART) texture is introduced to overcome this trade-off. By smoothing nanoimprinted SiO x nano-pillar arrays with spin-coated TiO x layers, light in-coupling into laser-crystallized silicon solar cells is significantly improved as successfully demonstrated in three-dimensional simulations and in experiment. At the same time, electronic silicon material quality is equivalent to that of planar references, allowing to reach V oc values above 630 mV. Furthermore, the short-circuit current density could be increased from 21.0 mA cm−2 for planar reference cells to 24.5 mA cm−2 on SMART textures, a relative increase of 18%. External quantum efficiency measurements yield an increase for wavelengths up to 700 nm compared to a state-of-the-art solar cell with 11.9% efficiency, corresponding to a j sc, EQE gain of 2.8 mA cm−2. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T03:59:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-efab301c9c1d4f6fa031ccb54b61a484 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T03:59:22Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-efab301c9c1d4f6fa031ccb54b61a4842022-12-21T20:36:43ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222017-06-017111010.1038/s41598-017-02874-ySmooth anti-reflective three-dimensional textures for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells on glassDavid Eisenhauer0Grit Köppel1Klaus Jäger2Duote Chen3Oleksandra Shargaieva4Paul Sonntag5Daniel Amkreutz6Bernd Rech7Christiane Becker8Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHHelmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbHAbstract Recently, liquid phase crystallization of thin silicon films has emerged as a candidate for thin-film photovoltaics. On 10 μm thin absorbers, wafer-equivalent morphologies and open-circuit voltages were reached, leading to 13.2% record efficiency. However, short-circuit current densities are still limited, mainly due to optical losses at the glass-silicon interface. While nano-structures at this interface have been shown to efficiently reduce reflection, up to now these textures caused a deterioration of electronic silicon material quality. Therefore, optical gains were mitigated due to recombination losses. Here, the SMooth Anti-Reflective Three-dimensional (SMART) texture is introduced to overcome this trade-off. By smoothing nanoimprinted SiO x nano-pillar arrays with spin-coated TiO x layers, light in-coupling into laser-crystallized silicon solar cells is significantly improved as successfully demonstrated in three-dimensional simulations and in experiment. At the same time, electronic silicon material quality is equivalent to that of planar references, allowing to reach V oc values above 630 mV. Furthermore, the short-circuit current density could be increased from 21.0 mA cm−2 for planar reference cells to 24.5 mA cm−2 on SMART textures, a relative increase of 18%. External quantum efficiency measurements yield an increase for wavelengths up to 700 nm compared to a state-of-the-art solar cell with 11.9% efficiency, corresponding to a j sc, EQE gain of 2.8 mA cm−2.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-02874-y |
| spellingShingle | David Eisenhauer Grit Köppel Klaus Jäger Duote Chen Oleksandra Shargaieva Paul Sonntag Daniel Amkreutz Bernd Rech Christiane Becker Smooth anti-reflective three-dimensional textures for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells on glass Scientific Reports |
| title | Smooth anti-reflective three-dimensional textures for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells on glass |
| title_full | Smooth anti-reflective three-dimensional textures for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells on glass |
| title_fullStr | Smooth anti-reflective three-dimensional textures for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells on glass |
| title_full_unstemmed | Smooth anti-reflective three-dimensional textures for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells on glass |
| title_short | Smooth anti-reflective three-dimensional textures for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cells on glass |
| title_sort | smooth anti reflective three dimensional textures for liquid phase crystallized silicon thin film solar cells on glass |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-02874-y |
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