Nano-structured GaAs solar cell design, simulation and analysis for conversion efficiency improvement

This paper discusses nano-structured GaAs solar cell design and analysis for conversion efficiency improvement by increasing the light transmission and absorption, reducing the light reflection. The focus of this research is to construct different type of nano-grating shaped GaAs solar cells with various nano-grating heights and pitches, to compare the simulation results and find a suitable nano-structure that can provide higher conversion efficiency. Finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulation tool is used to simulate and calculate the light reflection, transmission and absorption for different nano-grating shapes, such as, parabolic, triangular, trapezoidal and rectangular. Based on the simulation results, it has been confirmed that the light reflection of parabolic shaped nano-grating structures is higher than triangular nano-grating structures, but it is lower than rectangular and trapezoidal shaped nano-grating structures. Moreover, the simulation results confirmed that the light transmission of parabolic shaped nano-grating structures is about 62.3% having a 200-nm grating height and an 810-nm grating pitch, which is about 22% higher than the rectangular (i.e., flat) type substrates.