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Title: Omnidirectional and broadband absorption enhancement from trapezoidal Mie resonators in semiconductor metasurfaces

Abstract

Light trapping in planar ultrathin-film solar cells is limited due to a small number of optical modes available in the thin-film slab. A nanostructured thin-film design could surpass this limit by providing broadband increase in the local density of states in a subwavelength volume and maintaining efficient coupling of light. Here we report a broadband metasurface design, enabling efficient and broadband absorption enhancement by direct coupling of incoming light to resonant modes of subwavelength scale Mie nanoresonators defined in the thin-film active layer. Absorption was investigated both theoretically and experimentally in prototypes consisting of lithographically patterned, two-dimensional periodic arrays of silicon nanoresonators on silica substrates. A crossed trapezoid resonator shape of rectangular cross section is used to excite broadband Mie resonances across visible and near-IR spectra. Our numerical simulations, optical absorption measurements and photocurrent spectral response measurements demonstrate that crossed trapezoidal Mie resonant structures enable angle-insensitive, broadband absorption. A short circuit current density of 12.0 mA/cm2 is achieved in 210 nm thick patterned Si films, yielding a 4-fold increase compared to planar films of the same thickness. As a result, it is suggested that silicon metasurfaces with Mie resonator arrays can provide useful insights to guide future ultrathin-film solar cellmore » designs incorporating nanostructured thin active layers.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [1]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
  2. Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1434484
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0001293
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Scientific Reports
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 6; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION; Devices for energy harvesting; Metamaterials; Nanophotonics and plasmonics

Citation Formats

Pala, Ragip A., Butun, Serkan, Aydin, Koray, and Atwater, Harry A. Omnidirectional and broadband absorption enhancement from trapezoidal Mie resonators in semiconductor metasurfaces. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1038/srep31451.
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Pala, Ragip A., Butun, Serkan, Aydin, Koray, & Atwater, Harry A. Omnidirectional and broadband absorption enhancement from trapezoidal Mie resonators in semiconductor metasurfaces. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep31451
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Pala, Ragip A., Butun, Serkan, Aydin, Koray, and Atwater, Harry A. Mon . "Omnidirectional and broadband absorption enhancement from trapezoidal Mie resonators in semiconductor metasurfaces". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep31451. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1434484.
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@article{osti_1434484,
title = {Omnidirectional and broadband absorption enhancement from trapezoidal Mie resonators in semiconductor metasurfaces},
author = {Pala, Ragip A. and Butun, Serkan and Aydin, Koray and Atwater, Harry A.},
abstractNote = {Light trapping in planar ultrathin-film solar cells is limited due to a small number of optical modes available in the thin-film slab. A nanostructured thin-film design could surpass this limit by providing broadband increase in the local density of states in a subwavelength volume and maintaining efficient coupling of light. Here we report a broadband metasurface design, enabling efficient and broadband absorption enhancement by direct coupling of incoming light to resonant modes of subwavelength scale Mie nanoresonators defined in the thin-film active layer. Absorption was investigated both theoretically and experimentally in prototypes consisting of lithographically patterned, two-dimensional periodic arrays of silicon nanoresonators on silica substrates. A crossed trapezoid resonator shape of rectangular cross section is used to excite broadband Mie resonances across visible and near-IR spectra. Our numerical simulations, optical absorption measurements and photocurrent spectral response measurements demonstrate that crossed trapezoidal Mie resonant structures enable angle-insensitive, broadband absorption. A short circuit current density of 12.0 mA/cm2 is achieved in 210 nm thick patterned Si films, yielding a 4-fold increase compared to planar films of the same thickness. As a result, it is suggested that silicon metasurfaces with Mie resonator arrays can provide useful insights to guide future ultrathin-film solar cell designs incorporating nanostructured thin active layers.},
doi = {10.1038/srep31451},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
number = 1,
volume = 6,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Sep 19 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Mon Sep 19 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
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Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep31451
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Cited by: 33 works
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Enhanced evanescent mode light trapping in organic solar cells and other low index optoelectronic devices
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  • Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 19, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1002/pip.1038

Ordered Arrays of Dual-Diameter Nanopillars for Maximized Optical Absorption
journal, October 2010

  • Fan, Zhiyong; Kapadia, Rehan; Leu, Paul W.
  • Nano Letters, Vol. 10, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1021/nl1010788

Solar Cell Light Trapping beyond the Ray Optic Limit
journal, December 2011

  • Callahan, Dennis M.; Munday, Jeremy N.; Atwater, Harry A.
  • Nano Letters, Vol. 12, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1021/nl203351k

Absorption Enhancement in Ultrathin Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells with Antireflection and Light-Trapping Nanocone Gratings
journal, February 2012

  • Wang, Ken Xingze; Yu, Zongfu; Liu, Victor
  • Nano Letters, Vol. 12, Issue 3
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Tuning Light Absorption in Core/Shell Silicon Nanowire Photovoltaic Devices through Morphological Design
journal, January 2012

  • Kim, Sun-Kyung; Day, Robert W.; Cahoon, James F.
  • Nano Letters, Vol. 12, Issue 9
  • DOI: 10.1021/nl302578z

Broadband polarization-independent resonant light absorption using ultrathin plasmonic super absorbers
journal, November 2011

  • Aydin, Koray; Ferry, Vivian E.; Briggs, Ryan M.
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 2, Article No. 517
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1528

Broadband omnidirectional antireflection coating based on subwavelength surface Mie resonators
journal, January 2012

  • Spinelli, P.; Verschuuren, M. A.; Polman, A.
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 3, Issue 1
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  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8591

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journal, February 2012

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journal, February 2014

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  • Nature Materials, Vol. 13, Issue 2, p. 139-150
  • DOI: 10.1038/nmat3839

Metamaterial mirrors in optoelectronic devices
journal, June 2014

  • Esfandyarpour, Majid; Garnett, Erik C.; Cui, Yi
  • Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 9, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2014.117

Disordered photonics
journal, February 2013

Photonic crystal enhanced light-trapping in thin film solar cells
journal, May 2008

  • Zhou, Dayu; Biswas, Rana
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 103, Issue 9
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.2908212

Thermodynamic limit to photonic-plasmonic light-trapping in thin films on metals
journal, November 2011

  • Schiff, E. A.
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 110, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.3658848

Light Propagation with Phase Discontinuities: Generalized Laws of Reflection and Refraction
journal, September 2011

The soluble amino-terminal region of HVEM mediates efficient herpes simplex virus type 1 infection of gD receptor-negative cells
journal, January 2012

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journal, January 2010

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text, January 2010

Two-dimensional disorder for broadband, omnidirectional and polarization-insensitive absorption
text, January 2012

Single nanowire solar cells beyond the Shockley-Queisser limit
text, January 2013

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    Asymmetric metasurface structures for light absorption enhancement in thin film silicon solar cell
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    Perfect metamaterial absorber for applications in sustainable and high-efficiency solar cells
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    Absorption enhancement in thin-film solar cells using an integrated metasurface lens
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    • Journal of the Optical Society of America B, Vol. 35, Issue 2
    • DOI: 10.1364/josab.35.000223
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