Ridge aperture antenna array as a high efficiency coupler for photovoltaic applications

Weak absorption of light near the absorption band edge of a photovoltaic material is one limiting factor on the efficiency of photovoltaics. This is particularly true for silicon thin-film solar cells because of the short optical path lengths and limited options for texturing the front and back surfaces. Directing light laterally is one way to increase the optical path length and absorption. We investigate the use of a periodic array of apertures originated from bowtie aperture antennas to couple incident light into guided modes supported within a thin silicon film. We show the presence of the aperture array can increase the efficiency of a solar cell by as much as 39%. C © 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). [DOI: 10.1117/1.3644613]