Modeling and Optimizing of Photovoltaic Performance in Periodic Patterned Colloidal Quantum Dot Solar Cells (2015)

Undergraduates: Christopher Miller, Yulan Fu, Abay Gadisa, Yukihiro Hara Kristina T. Vrouwenvelder

Faculty Advisor: Rene Lopez
Department: Physics & Astronomy

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Due to the wide-spread absorption range of colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cells, they have attracted tremendous attention for applications in optoelectronic devices. The efficiency of these CQD solar cells however, continues to be limited by their low carrier mobility. Through our research we show that the overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) can be easily tuned by implementing unique photonic structures capable of enhancing both the charge generation and collection efficiencies simultaneously. By employing a two-dimensional numerical model in COMSOL Multiphysics, we have comprehensively calculated the optical and electronic characteristics of patterned CQD solar cells. Our calculation predicts a PCE as high as 13.5% with a short circuit current density of 37.3 mA/cm2; a value nearly 1.6 times larger than the conventional designs; which highlights the great potential of patterned quantum dot solar cells.