Optical absorption enhancement in 3D silicon oxide nano-sandwich type solar cell

Recent research in the field of photovoltaic and solar cell fabrication has shown the potential to significantly enhance light absorption in thin-film solar cells by using surface texturing and nanostructure coating techniques. In this paper, for the first time, we propose a new method for nano sandwich type thin-film solar cell fabrication by combining the laser amorphization (2nd solar cell generation) and laser nanofibers generation (3rd solar cell generation) techniques. In this novel technique, the crystalline silicon is irradiated by megahertz frequency femtosecond laser pulses under ambient conditions and the multi-layer of amorphorized silicon and nano fibrous layer are generated in the single-step on top of the silicon substrate. Light spectroscopy results show significant enhancement of light absorption in the generated multi layers solar cells (Silicon Oxide nanofibers / thin-film amorphorized silicon). This method is single step and no additional materials are added and both layers of the amorphorized thin-film silicon and three-dimensional (3D) silicon oxide nanofibrous structures are grown on top of the silicon substrate after laser irradiation. Finally, we suggest how to maximize the light trapping and optical absorption of the generated nanofibers/thin-film cells by optimizing the laser pulse duration.