Optimization of plasmonic cavity-resonant multijunction cells

Abstract

Improving spectral photon harvesting is important for thin-film multijunction cells. We show that efficient spectral flux management can be achieved using genetic algorithm-optimized surface plasmon (SP) cavity-resonant type multijunction cells. We also observe that the excitation of the SP quasi-guided mode, Fabry-Perot mode, and SP polariton significantly enhance the photocurrent of multijunction cells. Two types of cavity structures are investigated. For the optimized SP intermediate reflector and bottom-grating cavity, the resonant cavity mode efficiently increases the long-wavelength absorption in the bottom cell by 63.27%, resulting in reduced absorbance asymmetry between the top and the bottom cells. Accordingly, the matched integrated absorbance is increased by 14.92%. For the optimized SP top-and bottom-grating (TBG) cavity, the integrated absorbance and current matching are improved due to the higher transmission through the solar cell front surface and the excitation of the quasi-guided mode with a more localized field in the bottom cell. The matched integrated absorbance is improved by 85.68% for the TBG cavity. (C) 2013 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) [DOI:10.1117/1.OE.52.6.064002]