Resonance-induced absorption enhancement in colloidal quantum dot solar cells using nanostructured electrodes.

The application of nanostructured indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) electrodes as diffraction gratings for light absorption enhancement in colloidal quantum dot solar cells is numerically investigated using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. Resonant coupling of the incident diffracted light with supported waveguide modes in light absorbing layer at particular wavelengths predicted by grating far-field projection analysis is shown to provide superior near-infrared light trapping for nanostructured devices as compared to the planar structure. Among various technologically feasible nanostructures, the two-dimensional nano-branch array is demonstrated as the most promising polarization-independent structure and proved to be able to maintain its performance despite structural imperfections common in fabrication.

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