Enhanced Efficiency of Light-Trapping Nanoantenna Arrays for Thin Film Solar Cells

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel nanoantenna array design that significantly enhances light trapping in thin-film solar cells by exciting collective modes, leading to increased short-circuit current across the solar spectrum.

Contribution

It proposes a new light-trapping structure based on nanoantenna arrays operating off plasmonic resonances, improving efficiency over traditional anti-reflective coatings.

Findings

Theoretical demonstration of increased short-circuit current in solar cells.

Broadband enhancement across the entire solar spectrum.

Design compatibility with large-area thin-film fabrication.

Abstract

We suggest a novel concept of efficient light-trapping structures for thin-film solar cells based on arrays of planar nanoantennas operating far from plasmonic resonances. The operation principle of our structures relies on the excitation of chessboard-like collective modes of the nanoantenna arrays with the field localized between the neighboring metal elements. We demonstrated theoretically substantial enhancement of solar-cell short-circuit current by the designed light-trapping structure in the whole spectrum range of the solar-cell operation compared to conventional structures employing anti-reflecting coating. Our approach provides a general background for a design of different types of efficient broadband light-trapping structures for thin-film solar-cell technologically compatible with large-area thin-film fabrication techniques.