Strong Geometrical Dependence of the Absorption of Light in Arrays of Semiconductor Nanowires
Top Cited Papers
- 2 March 2011
- journal article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in ACS Nano
- Vol. 5 (3), 2316-2323
- https://doi.org/10.1021/nn103596n
Abstract
We demonstrate experimentally that arrays of base-tapered InP nanowires on top of an InP substrate form a broad band and omnidirectional absorbing medium. These characteristics are due to the specific geometry of the nanowires. Almost perfect absorption of light (higher than 97%) occurs in the system. We describe the strong optical absorption by finite-difference time-domain simulations and present the first study of the influence of the geometry of the nanowires on the enhancement of the optical absorption by arrays. Cylindrical nanowires present the highest absorption normalized to the volume fraction of the semiconductor. The absolute absorption in layers of conical nanowires is higher than that in cylindrical nanowires but requires a larger volume fraction of semiconducting material. Base-tapered nanowires, with a cylindrical top and a conical base, represent an intermediate geometry. These results set the basis for an optimized optical design of nanowire solar cells.This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- Anti-reflecting and photonic nanostructuresMaterials Science and Engineering: R: Reports, 2010
- Plasmonics for improved photovoltaic devicesNature Materials, 2010
- Direct Heteroepitaxy of Vertical InAs Nanowires on Si Substrates for Broad Band Photovoltaics and PhotodetectionNano Letters, 2009
- Engineering light absorption in semiconductor nanowire devicesNature Materials, 2009
- Silicon Nanowire-Based Solar Cells on Glass: Synthesis, Optical Properties, and Cell ParametersNano Letters, 2009
- Broad‐band and Omnidirectional Antireflection Coatings Based on Semiconductor NanorodsAdvanced Materials, 2009
- ZnO Nanostructures as Efficient Antireflection Layers in Solar CellsNano Letters, 2008
- Silicon nanowire solar cellsApplied Physics Letters, 2007
- Coaxial silicon nanowires as solar cells and nanoelectronic power sourcesNature, 2007
- Silicon Nanowire Array Photoelectrochemical CellsJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2007