Optimizing light absorption in a thin-film p-i-n solar cell using a quasi-periodic grating

A p-i-n solar cell is best suited for strong absorbers with poor collection capabilities. However, the absorption naturally decreases at photon energies close to the electronic bandgap of the semiconductor. We hypothesized that a quasi-periodic surface textures in the role of diffraction gratings at the back contact can efficiently scatter light increasing the optical path length inside the absorber layer. The effect of quasi-periodic corrugated backing metallic contact of various types was studied theoretically. To help optimizing the design of the quasi periodic grating the corresponding canonical problem was considered. The absorption of light was calculated using the rigorous coupled-wave approach. The n- and i-layers consist of isotropic nonhomogeneous multilayered semiconductor.