Materials for downconversion in solar cells: Perspectives and challenges

Although the efficiency of Dye-sensitized and Perovskite solar cell is still below the performance level of market dominance silicon solar cells, in last few years they have grabbed significant attention because of their fabrication ease using low-cost materials, and henceforth these cells are considered as a promising alternative to commercial photovoltaic devices. However, third generation solar cells have significant absorption in the visible region of solar spectrum, which confines their power conversion efficiency. Subsequently, the performance of current photovoltaics is significantly hampered by the transmission loss of sub-band-gap photons. To overcome these issues, rare earth doped luminescent materials is the favorable route followed to convert these transmitted sub-band-gap photons into above-band-gap light, where solar cells typically have significant light-scattering effects. Moreover, the rare earth based down/up conversion material facilitates the improvement in sensitization, light-scattering and device stability of these devices. This review provides insight into the application of various down/up conversion materials for Dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cell applications. Additionally, the paper discusses the techniques to improve the photovoltaic performance in terms of current density and photo voltage in detail.

Recent Progress and Emerging Applications of Rare Earth Doped Phosphor Materials for Dye-Sensitized and Perovskite Solar Cells: A Review.

Optical properties and crystallinity of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) thin films deposited by rf-PECVD

Nano-crystalline ZnO thin films on glass substrates have been prepared by sol–gel method at annealing temperatures of 300–550 °C. Zinc acetate, anhydrous ethanol, and mono-ethanolamine were used as raw materials. The thermal behaviors curves of the dried gel were examined and found that evaporation of solvent and the decomposition of the organics have completed before 250 °C. The effect of thermal annealing on structural and optical properties was investigated. X-ray diffraction patterns showed the gradual increase in orientation of (0 0 2) along c-axis. The transmittance spectra revealed the high transmission (T > 80% above annealing 400 °C) in visible region. The optical band gap (E
 g) of the samples is in the range from 3.24 to 3.28 eV. The photoluminescence spectra in ultraviolet were studied and found the continuous increased intensity of peaks at 387 and 393 nm respectively from intrinsic emission and near the band edge emission. Surface micrographs was observed by the atomic force microscopy and found the larger grain size and the compacter morphology before 500 °C. However, the excessive annealing temperature at 550 °C deteriorated the structural and optical properties of the samples. The transmittance is still enhanced as rising annealing temperature up to 500 °C which is more attributed to the decrease in grain boundaries and defect concentration. The poor transmission of films annealed at low temperatures is attributed to unsatisfactory crystalline quality. The stable and high transparency (>80%) in the visible region is presented above 400 °C. The UV–Vis transmittance spectra of ZnO thin films at different annealing temperature.

Structural and optical properties of nano-crystalline ZnO thin films synthesized by sol–gel method

The optoelectronic properties of silicon films deposited by inductively coupled plasma CVD

Polymorphous silicon thin films (pm-Si) have been deposited from mixtures of dichlorosilane and hydrogen, using argon as the diluting gas by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The deposition conditions were chosen to simultaneously obtain both Si nanocrystallites and an amorphous silicon matrix in the as-grown samples. High resolution transmission electron microscopy studies show the crystallinity of Si domains whose dimensions are in the interval of 2–14 nm. The surface passivation state of the silicon nanocrystals was inferred from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis. Two optical absorption edges, corresponding to the amorphous matrix and the Si nanocrystals, were observed for all the pm-Si thin films. Intense visible photoluminescence was observed for the as-grown samples. The possibility of using these thin films for the down-conversion effect in silicon solar cells is discussed.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0957-4484/20/24/245604/pdf

Polymorphous silicon thin films obtained by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition using dichlorosilane as silicon precursor.

Silicon nanocrystals embedded in amorphous silicon matrix were obtained by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition using dichlorosilane as silicon precursor. The RF power and dichlorosilane to hydrogen flow rate ratio were varied to obtain different crystalline fractions and average sizes of silicon nanocrystals. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy images and RAMAN measurements confirmed the existence of nanocrystals embedded in the amorphous matrix with average sizes between 2 and 6nm. Different crystalline fractions (from 12% to 54%) can be achieved in these films by regulating the selected growth parameters. The global optical constants of the films were obtained by UV-visible transmittance measurements. Effective band gap variations from 1.78 to 2.3 eV were confirmed by Tauc plot method. Absorption coefficients higher than standard amorphous siliconwere obtained in these thin films for specific growth parameters. The relationship between the optical properties is discussed in terms of the different internal nanostructures of the samples.

/pdf/structure-and-optical-properties-of-silicon-nanocrystals-33m2wq79ml.pdf

Structure and optical properties of silicon nanocrystals embedded in amorphous silicon thin films obtained by PECVD

Polymorphous silicon thin films were obtained by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition using dichlorosilane as silicon precursor. The RF power and the dichlorosilane to hydrogen flow rate ratio were varied to obtain different crystalline fractions and average sizes of silicon nanocrystals embedded in the amorphous silicon matrix. Microscopy images confirmed the existence of nanocrystallites with averages sizes between 2 and 6 nm. Broader size distributions were obtained with increasing RF power. Raman results confirmed that different nanocrystalline fractions (from 12% to 54%) can be achieved in these films by regulating the selected growth parameters. The optical band gap calculated by the Tauc model from UV-visible transmittance measurements varies between 1.8 to 2.3 eV. The relationship between the optical properties is discussed in terms of the different nanostructures of the samples. Depending on their absorption properties and effective band gap, these materials can be suitable for application in thin film solar cell devices (© 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Variation in the structure and optical properties of polymorphous silicon thin films using dichlorosilane as silicon precursor

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Polymorphous silicon thin films obtained by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition using dichlorosilane as silicon precursor.

Structure and optical properties of silicon nanocrystals embedded in amorphous silicon thin films obtained by PECVD

Variation in the structure and optical properties of polymorphous silicon thin films using dichlorosilane as silicon precursor