Effects of Photonic Band Structure and Unit Super-Cell Size in Graded Photonic Super-Crystal on Broadband Light Absorption in Silicon

Abstract

The newly discovered graded photonic super-crystal (GPSC) with a large size of unit cell can have novel optical properties that have not been explored. The unit super-cell in the GPSC can be designed to be large or small and thus the GPSC can have no photonic band gap or several gaps. The photonic band structures in Si GPSC can help predict the light absorption in Si. Photonic resonance modes help enhance the absorption of light in silicon; however, photonic band gaps decrease the absorption for light with a large incident angle. The Si device patterned in GPSC with a unit super-cell of 6a × 6a (a is a lattice constant in traditional photonic crystal) has a broadband high absorption with strong incident-angular dependence. The device with the unit super-cell of 12a × 12a has relatively low light absorption with weak incident-angle dependence. The Si GPSC with a unit super-cell of 8a × 8a combines both advantages of broadband high absorption and weak dependence of absorption on the incident angle.

Keywords

• light trapping
• graded photonic super-crystal
• micro- and nano-structured materials
• photovoltaic devices
• silicon