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Efficient light management in vertical nanowire arrays for photovoltaics

Anttu, Nicklas LU and Xu, Hongqi LU (2013) In Optics Express 21(9). p.558-575
Abstract
Vertical arrays of direct band gap III-V semiconductor nanowires (NWs) hold the prospect of cheap and efficient next-generation photovoltaics, and guidelines for successful light-management are needed. Here, we use InP NWs as a model system and find, through electrodynamic modeling, general design principles for efficient absorption of sun light in nanowire arrays by systematically varying the nanowire diameter, the nanowire length, and the array period. Most importantly, we discover the existence of specific band-gap dependent diameters, 170 nm and 410 nm for InP, for which the absorption of sun light in the array is optimal, irrespective of the nanowire length. At these diameters, the individual InP NWs of the array absorb light strongly... (More)
Vertical arrays of direct band gap III-V semiconductor nanowires (NWs) hold the prospect of cheap and efficient next-generation photovoltaics, and guidelines for successful light-management are needed. Here, we use InP NWs as a model system and find, through electrodynamic modeling, general design principles for efficient absorption of sun light in nanowire arrays by systematically varying the nanowire diameter, the nanowire length, and the array period. Most importantly, we discover the existence of specific band-gap dependent diameters, 170 nm and 410 nm for InP, for which the absorption of sun light in the array is optimal, irrespective of the nanowire length. At these diameters, the individual InP NWs of the array absorb light strongly for photon energies just above the band gap energy due to a diameter-tunable nanophotonic resonance, which shows up also for other semiconductor materials of the NWs. Furthermore, we find that for maximized absorption of sun light, the optimal period of the array increases with nanowire length, since this decreases the insertion reflection losses. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Optics Express
volume
21
issue
9
pages
558 - 575
publisher
Optical Society of America
external identifiers
  • wos:000318906500027
  • scopus:84878620340
ISSN
1094-4087
DOI
10.1364/OE.21.00A558
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e65e42d6-0ed4-469d-b13f-70e17d8a2c63 (old id 3932229)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:42:49
date last changed
2023-11-12 20:14:38
@article{e65e42d6-0ed4-469d-b13f-70e17d8a2c63,
  abstract     = {{Vertical arrays of direct band gap III-V semiconductor nanowires (NWs) hold the prospect of cheap and efficient next-generation photovoltaics, and guidelines for successful light-management are needed. Here, we use InP NWs as a model system and find, through electrodynamic modeling, general design principles for efficient absorption of sun light in nanowire arrays by systematically varying the nanowire diameter, the nanowire length, and the array period. Most importantly, we discover the existence of specific band-gap dependent diameters, 170 nm and 410 nm for InP, for which the absorption of sun light in the array is optimal, irrespective of the nanowire length. At these diameters, the individual InP NWs of the array absorb light strongly for photon energies just above the band gap energy due to a diameter-tunable nanophotonic resonance, which shows up also for other semiconductor materials of the NWs. Furthermore, we find that for maximized absorption of sun light, the optimal period of the array increases with nanowire length, since this decreases the insertion reflection losses. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America}},
  author       = {{Anttu, Nicklas and Xu, Hongqi}},
  issn         = {{1094-4087}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{9}},
  pages        = {{558--575}},
  publisher    = {{Optical Society of America}},
  series       = {{Optics Express}},
  title        = {{Efficient light management in vertical nanowire arrays for photovoltaics}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.21.00A558}},
  doi          = {{10.1364/OE.21.00A558}},
  volume       = {{21}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}