Speaker
Description
III-V semiconductor photonic devices, including solar cells and photonic power converters, have superior conversion efficiencies compared to their silicon counterparts. However, high material costs limit widespread use. Light trapping strategies such as nanoscale surface texturing can enhance absorption and improve device performance. In this work, a 3D optical model was employed to investigate front surface texturing for light management in gallium arsenide (GaAs)-based photonic devices. Finite-difference time-domain simulations were used to solve Maxwell’s equations and compute the electric field distribution under 850 nm illumination at a power density of 1 W/cm². The optical electron-hole pair generation rate in the GaAs absorber layer was used as a figure of merit for light trapping. Texture dimensions were optimized using a particle swarm algorithm, and multiple pattern geometries were compared. Square textures were found to be better than circular ones, and optimized surface texture designs achieved a >2X improvement in generation rate relative to an untextured surface. These results indicate the promise of surface texturing for improved light management and higher III-V photonic device efficiency. Ongoing work focuses on incorporating a back reflector to further enhance device performance.
| Keyword-1 | Nanophotonics |
|---|---|
| Keyword-2 | III-V semiconductors |
| Keyword-3 | Optical modelling |