Nanometer-Mesa Inverted-Pyramid Photonic Crystals for Thin Silicon Solar Cells

The usage of ultrathin flexible silicon foil can further extend the functionality of silicon and emerging silicon-based tandem solar cells particularly in building and vehicle-integrated photovoltaics where high-efficiency, lightweight, and flexible solar panels are highly desired. However, silicon’s relatively weak optical absorption coefficient especially in the near infrared (NIR) region limits its optoelectronic applications with a reduced wafer thickness. Herein, we seek to overcome this limitation by exploring the wave interference phenomenon for effective absorption of NIR light in ultrathin silicon. Particularly, inverted pyramid photonic crystals (PhCs) with nano–micrometer-scale feature sizes are carved directly on silicon. Detailed experimental and theoretical studies are presented by systematically examining the optical properties of PhC-integrated thin silicon substrates (down to a 10 μm thickness). The corresponding maximum photocurrent density for a thin absorber is projected and compared with that predicted by Lambertian’s limit. In contrast to traditionally configured microscale inverse pyramids, we show that a small mesa width is critical to achieving high optical performance for a wave-interference-based absorption enhancement. Mesa widths as small as 35 nm are realized over a large wafer-scale fabrication using facile techniques. The optical performance of 10 μm silicon indicates that an ideal photocurrent density approaching 40 mA/cm2 is feasible. This study indicates that photonic crystals provide strong wave interference in ultrathin silicon, and in particular, we observe high optical absorption even after removing more than 90% of the silicon from conventional “thick” Si wafers.