Broadband unidirectional forward scattering with high refractive index nanostructures: Application in solar cells

Abstract

High refractive index dielectric (HRID) nanoparticles are a clear alternative to metals in nanophotonic applications due to their low losses and directional scattering properties. It has been demonstrated that HRID dimers are more efficient scattering units than single nanoparticles in redirecting the incident radiation towards the forward direction. This effect was recently reported and is known as the ?near zero-backward? scattering condition, attained when nanoparticles forming dimers strongly interact with each other. Here, we analyzed the electromagnetic response of HRID isolated nanoparticles and aggregates when deposited on monolayer and graded-index multilayer dielectric substrates. In particular, we studied the fraction of radiation that is scattered towards a substrate with known optical properties when the nanoparticles are located on its surface. We demonstrated that HRID dimers can increase the radiation emitted towards the substrate compared to that of isolated nanoparticles. However, this effect was only present for low values of the substrate refractive index. With the aim of observing the same effect for silicon substrates, we show that it is necessary to use a multilayer antireflection coating. We conclude that dimers of HRID nanoparticles on a graded-index multilayer substrate can increase the radiation scattered into a silicon photovoltaic wafer. The results in this work can be applied to the design of novel solar cells.