skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Efficiency enhancement of ultrathin CIGS solar cells by optimal bandgap grading. Part II: finite-difference algorithm and double-layer antireflection coatings
In Part I [Appl. Opt.58,6067(2019)APOPAI003-693510.1364/AO.58.006067], we used a coupled optoelectronic model to optimize a thin-film C u I n 1 −<#comment/> ξ<#comment/> G a ξ<#comment/> S e 2 (CIGS) solar cell with a graded-bandgap photon-absorbing layer and a periodically corrugated backreflector. The increase in efficiency due to the periodic corrugation was found to be tiny and that, too, only for very thin CIGS layers. Also, it was predicted that linear bandgap-grading enhances the efficiency of the CIGS solar cells. However, a significant improvement in solar cell efficiency was found using a nonlinearly (sinusoidally) graded-bandgap CIGS photon-absorbing layer. The optoelectronic model comprised two submodels: optical and electrical. The electrical submodel applied the hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) scheme directly to equations for the drift and diffusion of charge carriers. As our HDG scheme sometimes fails due to negative carrier densities arising during the solution process, we devised a new, to the best of our knowledge, computational scheme using the finite-difference method, which also reduces the overall computational cost of optimization. An unfortunate normalization error in the electrical submodel in Part I came to light. This normalization error did not change the overall conclusions reported in Part I; however, some specifics did change. The new algorithm for the electrical submodel is reported here along with updated numerical results. We re-optimized the solar cells containing a CIGS photon-absorbing layer with either (i) a homogeneous bandgap, (ii) a linearly graded bandgap, or (iii) a nonlinearly graded bandgap. Considering the meager increase in efficiency with the periodic corrugation and additional complexity in the fabrication process, we opted for a flat backreflector. The new algorithm is significantly faster than the previous algorithm. Our new results confirm efficiency enhancement of 84% (resp. 63%) when the thickness of the CIGS layer is 600 nm (resp. 2200 nm), similarly to Part I. A hundredfold concentration of sunlight can increase the efficiency by an additional 27%. Finally, the currently used 110-nm-thick layer of M g F 2 performs almost as well as optimal single- and double-layer antireflection coatings.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2011603 2011996
PAR ID:
10380864
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Optical Society of America
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Applied Optics
Volume:
61
Issue:
33
ISSN:
1559-128X; APOPAI
Format(s):
Medium: X Size: Article No. 10049
Size(s):
Article No. 10049
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. The mid-IR spectroscopic properties of E r 3 + doped low-phonon C s C d C l 3 and C s P b C l 3 crystals grown by the Bridgman technique have been investigated. Using optical excitations at ∼<#comment/> 800 n m and ∼<#comment/> 660 n m , both crystals exhibited IR emissions at ∼<#comment/> 1.55 , ∼<#comment/> 2.75 , ∼<#comment/> 3.5 , and ∼<#comment/> 4.5 µ<#comment/> m at room temperature. The mid-IR emission at 4.5 µm, originating from the 4 I 9 / 2 →<#comment/> 4 I 11 / 2 transition, showed a long emission lifetime of ∼<#comment/> 11.6 m s for E r 3 + doped C s C d C l 3 , whereas E r 3 + doped C s P b C l 3 exhibited a shorter lifetime of ∼<#comment/> 1.8 m s . The measured emission lifetimes of the 4 I 9 / 2 state were nearly independent of the temperature, indicating a negligibly small nonradiative decay rate through multiphonon relaxation, as predicted by the energy-gap law for low-maximum-phonon energy hosts. The room temperature stimulated emission cross sections for the 4 I 9 / 2 →<#comment/> 4 I 11 / 2 transition in E r 3 + doped C s C d C l 3 and C s P b C l 3 were determined to be ∼<#comment/> 0.14 ×<#comment/> 10 −<#comment/> 20 c m 2 and ∼<#comment/> 0.41 ×<#comment/> 10 −<#comment/> 20 c m 2 , respectively. The results of Judd–Ofelt analysis are presented and discussed. 
    more » « less
  2. In this Letter, the electron-blocking-layer (EBL)-free AlGaN ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) using a strip-in-a-barrier structure have been proposed. The quantum barrier (QB) structures are systematically engineered by integrating a 1 nm intrinsic A l x G a ( 1 −<#comment/> x ) N strip into the middle of QBs. The resulted structures exhibit significantly reduced electron leakage and improved hole injection into the active region, thus generating higher carrier radiative recombination. Our study shows that the proposed structure improves radiative recombination by ∼<#comment/> 220 %<#comment/> , reduces electron leakage by ∼<#comment/> 11 times, and enhances optical power by ∼<#comment/> 225 %<#comment/> at 60 mA current injection compared to a conventional AlGaN EBL LED structure. Moreover, the EBL-free strip-in-a-barrier UV LED records the maximum internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of ∼<#comment/> 61.5 %<#comment/> which is ∼<#comment/> 72 %<#comment/> higher, and IQE droop is ∼<#comment/> 12.4 %<#comment/> , which is ∼<#comment/> 333 %<#comment/> less compared to the conventional AlGaN EBL LED structure at ∼<#comment/> 284.5 n m wavelength. Hence, the proposed EBL-free AlGaN LED is the potential solution to enhance the optical power and produce highly efficient UV emitters. 
    more » « less
  3. In this paper, deep ultraviolet AlGaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with a novel double-sided step graded superlattice (DSGS) electron blocking layer (EBL) instead of a conventional EBL have been proposed for ∼<#comment/> 254 n m wavelength emission. The enhanced carrier transport in the DSGS structure results in reduced electron leakage into the p -region, improved hole activation and hole injection, and enhanced output power and external quantum efficiency. The calculations show that output power of the DSGS structure is ∼<#comment/> 3.56 times higher and electron leakage is ∼<#comment/> 12 times lower, compared to the conventional structure. Moreover, the efficiency droop at 60 mA in the DSGS LED was found to be ∼<#comment/> 9.1 %<#comment/> , which is ∼<#comment/> 4.5 times lower than the regular LED structure. 
    more » « less
  4. We present the optical and structural characterization of films of T a 2 O 5 , S c 2 O 3 , and S c 2 O 3 doped T a 2 O 5 with a cation ratio around 0.1 grown by reactive sputtering. The addition of S c 2 O 3 as a dopant induces the formation of tantalum suboxide due to the “oxygen getter” property of scandium. The presence of tantalum suboxide greatly affects the optical properties of the coating, resulting in higher absorption loss at λ<#comment/> = 1064 n m . The refractive index and optical band gap of the mixed film do not correspond to those of a mixture of T a 2 O 5 and S c 2 O 3 , given the profound structural modifications induced by the dopant. 
    more » « less
  5. Optical coatings formed from amorphous oxide thin films have many applications in precision measurements. The Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Advanced Virgo use coatings of S i O 2 (silica) and T i O 2 : T a 2 O 5 (titania-doped tantala) and post-deposition annealing to 500°C to achieve low thermal noise and low optical absorption. Optical scattering by these coatings is a key limit to the sensitivity of the detectors. This paper describes optical scattering measurements for single-layer, ion-beam-sputtered thin films on fused silica substrates: two samples of T a 2 O 5 and two of T i O 2 : T a 2 O 5 . Using an imaging scatterometer at a fixed scattering angle of 12.8°, in-situ changes in the optical scatter of each sample were assessed during post-deposition annealing to 500°C in vacuum. The scatter of three of the four coated optics was observed to decrease during the annealing process, by 25–30% for tantala and up to 74% for titania-doped tantala, while the scatter from the fourth sample held constant. Angle-resolved scatter measurements performed before and after vacuum annealing suggest some improvement in three of the four samples. These results demonstrate that post-deposition, high-temperature annealing of single-layer tantala and titania-doped tantala thin films in vacuum does not lead to an increase in scatter, and may actually improve their scatter. 
    more » « less