Output details

Beyond the Yablonovitch limit: trapping light by frequency shift

Significance of output:

A low optical absorption of crystalline silicon is the principal reason for the high cost of solar cells today. This paper describes, for the first time, a new class of photonic structures with excellent light trapping properties, with the potential for dramatic improvement in the optical absorption of silicon, made possible by changing the frequency of light with the use of a fluorescent dye. The concept is used to demonstrate a solar cell based on crystalline silicon with thickness of around 1?m – a hundred times thinner that the typical solar cell today, but with a comparable efficiency (patent application filed).