Ultra-Wideband High-Efficiency Solar Absorber and Thermal Emitter Based on Semiconductor InAs Microstructures
Yanying Zhu,
Pinggen Cai,
Wenlong Zhang,
Tongyu Meng,
Yongjian Tang,
Zao Yi,
Kaihua Wei,
Gongfa Li,
Bin Tang,
Yougen Yi
Affiliations
Yanying Zhu
Joint Laboratory for Extreme Conditions Matter Properties, Tianfu Institute of Research and Innovation, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Friendly Energy Materials, Key Laboratory of Manufacturing Process Testing Technology of Ministry of Education, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, China
Pinggen Cai
Department of Applied Physics, College of Science, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China
Wenlong Zhang
Joint Laboratory for Extreme Conditions Matter Properties, Tianfu Institute of Research and Innovation, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Friendly Energy Materials, Key Laboratory of Manufacturing Process Testing Technology of Ministry of Education, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, China
Tongyu Meng
Leicester International Institute, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 124221, China
Yongjian Tang
Joint Laboratory for Extreme Conditions Matter Properties, Tianfu Institute of Research and Innovation, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Friendly Energy Materials, Key Laboratory of Manufacturing Process Testing Technology of Ministry of Education, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, China
Zao Yi
Joint Laboratory for Extreme Conditions Matter Properties, Tianfu Institute of Research and Innovation, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Friendly Energy Materials, Key Laboratory of Manufacturing Process Testing Technology of Ministry of Education, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, China
Kaihua Wei
School of Automation, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Gongfa Li
Key Laboratory of Metallurgical Equipment and Control Technology of Ministry of Education, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China
Bin Tang
School of Microelectronics and Control Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, China
Yougen Yi
College of Physics and Electronics, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
Since the use of chemical fuels is permanently damaging the environment, the need for new energy sources is urgent for mankind. Given that solar energy is a clean and sustainable energy source, this study investigates and proposes a six-layer composite ultra-wideband high-efficiency solar absorber with an annular microstructure. It achieves this by using a combination of the properties of metamaterials and the quantum confinement effects of semiconductor materials. The substrate is W–Ti–Al2O3, and the microstructure is an annular InAs-square InAs film–Ti film combination. We used Lumerical Solutions’ FDTD solution program to simulate the absorber and calculate the model’s absorption, field distribution, and thermal radiation efficiency (when it is used as a thermal emitter), and further explored the physical mechanism of the model’s ultra-broadband absorption. Our model has an average absorption of 95.80% in the 283–3615 nm band, 95.66% in the 280–4000 nm band, and a weighted average absorption efficiency of 95.78% under AM1.5 illumination. Meanwhile, the reflectance of the model in the 5586–20,000 nm band is all higher than 80%, with an average reflectance of 94.52%, which has a good thermal infrared suppression performance. It is 95.42% under thermal radiation at 1000 K. It has outstanding performance when employed as a thermal emitter as well. Additionally, simulation results show that the absorber has good polarization and incidence angle insensitivity. The model may be applied to photodetection, thermophotovoltaics, bio-detection, imaging, thermal ion emission, and solar water evaporation for water purification.
