Characteristics of Si-Solar Cell (PV) Waveguide Structure Using Transfer Matrix Method

In this work, the characteristics of a Si-solar cell (PV) model is studied. The proposed model is a four layer system with an ultra-thin film of Fe-InGaAsPlaid above Silicon (Si) substrate and covered by AlON layer that is exposed to air directly. The efficiency is measured by the reflectance power (R) and transmittance power (T). R and T are derived by using the transfer matrix method for both TE and TM modes. The total reflectance (R
_avg
) and the total transmittance (T
_avg
) are taken as the average value for the TE and TM modes. R
_avg
and T
_avg
are plotted versus the wavelength at different values for AlON layer thickness l
₁
and Fe-InGaAsP layer thickness l
₂
using Maple. The result shows that the minimum value of R
_avg
is shifted toward higher wavelengths with increasing l
₁
. The minimum of R
_avg
is almost zero while the rest of the spectrum is less than 0.25% which is lower than any previous results. We also noticed that the maximum transmittance power in visible light range is decreasing whenever the AlON thickness increased. In addition, the average reflectance power hardly changes as values of l
₂
varies at the minimum.