Affordable light-trapping metamaterials for thin-film photovoltaic cells

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dc.contributorAalto-yliopistofi
dc.contributorAalto Universityen
dc.contributor.authorOmelyanovich, Mikhail
dc.contributor.departmentElektroniikan ja nanotekniikan laitosfi
dc.contributor.departmentDepartment of Electronics and Nanoengineeringen
dc.contributor.schoolSähkötekniikan korkeakoulufi
dc.contributor.schoolSchool of Electrical Engineeringen
dc.contributor.supervisorSimovski, Constantin, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Electronics and Nanoengineering, Finland
dc.date.accessioned2018-03-02T10:02:51Z
dc.date.available2018-03-02T10:02:51Z
dc.date.defence2018-03-16
dc.date.issued2018
dc.description.abstractThe thesis reports on my doctoral studies in the field of light-trapping structure for planar multilayer thin-film photovoltaic diodes. In this report we consequently pass from plasmonic light-trapping structures enhancing the PV absorption of photodiodes in a narrow band to broadband all-dielectric light-trapping structures which were fabricated and successfully tested experimentally.  The first part of the thesis is focused on a novel regime of perfect absorption in a thin plasmonic layer that corresponds to a collective mode of a plasmonic nanosperes array. In the theoretical study we show that the absorption of the incident light occurs mainly in the semiconductor material hosting plasmonic nanospheres, whereas the absorption in the metal is negligible. The regime remains the same when the uniform host layer is replaced by a practical photovoltaic cell. Trapping the light allows the thickness of the doped semiconductor to be reduced to such values that the degradation under light exposure becomes insufficient. The light-trapping regime is compatible with both variants: the metal-backed photovoltaic cell and its semitransparent counterpart when both electrodes are made of a conductive oxide. Negligible parasitic losses, a variety of design solutions and a reasonable operational band make our perfect plasmonic absorbers promising for photovoltaic applications.  The second part of the thesis is devoted to synthetic perovskites with photovoltaic properties that opens a new era in solar photovoltaics. Due to high optical absorption perovskite-based thin-film solar cells are usually considered as absorbing solar radiation fully under conditions of ideal blooming. However, actually this assumption does not hold. In this part of the thesis we show that it is possible to cure this shortage by complementing the basic structure with an inexpensive plasmonic array of nanospheres.  The last research problem studied in the thesis is the dielectric metamaterial as an efficient light-trapping structure. It is shown theoretically that this metamaterial can decrease the reflection and simultaneously suppress the transmission through the photovoltaic layer because it transforms the incident plane wave into a set of focused light beams. This theoretical concept has been strongly developed and experimentally confirmed in the experimental work. Also the experiments show that a submicron layer of a transparent conducting oxide may act as a top electrode of a photovoltaic cell based on amorphous silicon when properly patterned by notches becomes an efficient light-trapping structure. The nanopatterning is achievable in a rather easy and affordable way that makes developed method of the solar cell enhancement attractive for industrial adaptation.en
dc.format.extent89 + app. 47
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.isbn978-952-60-7870-0 (electronic)
dc.identifier.isbn978-952-60-7869-4 (printed)
dc.identifier.issn1799-4942 (electronic)
dc.identifier.issn1799-4934 (printed)
dc.identifier.issn1799-4934 (ISSN-L)
dc.identifier.urihttps://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/30186
dc.identifier.urnURN:ISBN:978-952-60-7870-0
dc.language.isoenen
dc.opnLavrinenko, Andrei, Prof., Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
dc.publisherAalto Universityen
dc.publisherAalto-yliopistofi
dc.relation.haspart[Publication 1]: Mikhail Omelyanovich, Younes Ra’di and Constantin Simovski, “Perfect plasmonic absorbers for photovoltaic applications,” Journal of Optics, no. 17, p. 125901, October 2015. DOI: 10.1088/2040-8978/17/12/125901
dc.relation.haspart[Publication 2]: Mikhail Omelyanovich, Makarov, S., Milichko, V. and Constantin Simovski, “Enhancement of Perovskite Solar Cells by Plasmonic Nanoparticles,” Materials Sciences and Applications, vol. 7, pp. 836–847, December 2016. DOI: 10.4236/msa.2016.712064
dc.relation.haspart[Publication 3]: Mikhail Omelyanovich, Viktor Ovchinnikov and Constantin Simovski, “A non-resonant dielectric metamaterial for the enhancement of thin-film solar cells,” Journal of Optics, no. 17, p. 025102, January 2015. DOI: 10.1088/2040-8978/17/2/025102
dc.relation.haspart[Publication 4]: Mikhail Omelyanovich and Constantin Simovski, “All Angle Light-Trapping Electrode for Photovoltaic Cells,” Optics Letters, vol. 42, no. 19, p. 3726-3729, September 2017. DOI: 10.1364/OL.42.003726
dc.relation.ispartofseriesAalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONSen
dc.relation.ispartofseries37/2018
dc.revDi Carlo, Aldo, Prof., University of Rome, Italy
dc.subject.keywordlight-trappingen
dc.subject.keywordmetamaterialsen
dc.subject.keywordsolar cellsen
dc.subject.keywordmicrofabricationen
dc.subject.otherPhysicsen
dc.titleAffordable light-trapping metamaterials for thin-film photovoltaic cellsen
dc.typeG5 Artikkeliväitöskirjafi
dc.type.dcmitypetexten
dc.type.ontasotDoctoral dissertation (article-based)en
dc.type.ontasotVäitöskirja (artikkeli)fi
local.aalto.acrisexportstatuschecked
local.aalto.archiveyes
local.aalto.formfolder2018_03_01_klo_14_11
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