Omnidirectional broadband absorption of the solar radiation based on light funnel arrays for thin-film low-cost silicon-based photovoltaic solar cells

A new strategy for absorption enhancement of the solar radiation is proposed, based on surface arrays of subwavelength light-funnels (LFs), where a LF is a structure which is inverted with respect to the incoming illumination such as inverted cones, inverted hyperboloids, inverted paraboloids, etc. It was numerically demonstrated by PI Gil Shalev in a series of recent publications that LF arrays provide absorption enhancement of the solar spectrum as compared with the state-of-the-art.
The goal of the current proposal is to realize polysilicon LF arrays on top of glass (pLFoG). The thin polysilicon film will be composed of a thin substrate with a top decoration of LF arrays. The total height of the complex (polysilicon substrate and the polysilicon array) will be a few microns. The omnidirectional broadband absorption of the solar spectrum will be demonstrated for the pLFoG compared with an equivalent polysilicon thin film decorated with optimized anti-reflection coating.
The design of the pLFoG will be determined by PI Gil Shalev group using numerical calculations. The fabrication of the pLFoG will be performed in BGU nanofabrication facility led by PI Erez Golan. The far-field spectroscopy and near-field microscopy will be performed by the group of PI Gil Shalev.