The Structure Design and Photoelectric Properties of Wideband High Absorption Ge/GaAs/P3HT:PCBM Solar Cells

• Published in: Micromachines (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 3; p. 349
• Main Authors: Zeng, Xintao, Su, Ning, Wu, Pinghui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 23.02.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Absorption; Alternative energy sources; Aluminum oxide; Broadband; Circuits; Design; Efficiency; Electric fields; Electromagnetism; FDTD; Gallium arsenide; Ge/GaAs/P3HT:PCBM; Holes (electron deficiencies); hybrid solar cell; Light; localized surface plasmon; Nanoparticles; Photoelectric effect; Photoelectricity; photon absorption; Photovoltaic cells; Short circuit currents; Solar cells; Thickness; Time domain analysis; Ultrawideband; photon absorption; hybrid solar cell; Ge/GaAs/P3HT:PCBM; localized surface plasmon; FDTD
• ISSN: 2072-666X; 2072-666X
• DOI: 10.3390/mi13030349

Using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, we designed an ultra-thin Ge/GaAs/P3HT:PCBM hybrid solar cell (HSC), which showed good effects of ultra-wideband (300 nm-1200 nm), high absorption, and a short-circuit current density of 44.7 mA/cm . By changing the thickness of the active layer P3HT:PCBM, we analyzed the capture of electron-hole pairs. We also studied the effect of Al O on the absorption performance of the cell. Through adding metal Al nanoparticles (Al-NPs) and then analyzing the figures of absorption and electric field intensity, we found that surface plasma is the main cause of solar cell absorption enhancement, and we explain the mechanism. The results show that the broadband absorption of the solar cell is high, and it plays a great role in capturing sunlight, which will be of great significance in the field of solar cell research.