Three dimensional a-Si:H thin-film solar cells with silver nano-rod back electrodes

• 3-D a-Si:H thin-film solar cells with Ag nano-rod are fabricated by NIL.
• We achieved 45% increase in conversion efficiency compared to the control cells.
• This configuration can be used for light harvesting in various photovoltaic devices.

We present three dimensional (3-D) amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin-film solar cells with silver nano-rods as back electrodes, which are fabricated by low cost nano imprint lithography (NIL). After conformal deposition of thin metal and semiconductor layers, we can achieve a dome-shaped geometry, which is shown to be effective in reducing the reflectance at the front surface due to the graded refractive index effect. In addition, the enhancement of the diffused reflectance over a broad wavelength in this dome-shaped geometry provides light trapping due to the increase in the effective light propagation length. Using this 3-D solar cell, we achieved 54% increase in short circuit current density and 45% increase in the conversion efficiency compared to the control cells with flat Ag surfaces. This 3-D structure can be also used for improving light harvesting in various photovoltaic devices regardless of materials and structures.