Inès Massiot

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Papers by Inès Massiot

Ultrathin CIGS solar cells with optical nanoparticles

by Clément Colin and Inès Massiot

Low temperature epitaxial growth of Si and SiGe and their transfer to foreign substrate

High quality relaxed germanium layers grown on and silicon substrates with reduced stacking fault... more High quality relaxed germanium layers grown on and silicon substrates with reduced stacking fault formation J. Appl. Phys. 114, 154306 (2013); 10.1063/1.4825130 Strain relaxation of GeSi/Si(001) heterostructures grown by low-temperature molecular-beam epitaxy J. Appl. Phys. 96, 7665 (2004); 10.1063/1.1809772 Plastic relaxation of solid GeSi solutions grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on the low temperature Si(100) buffer layer J. Appl. Phys. 91, 4710 (2002); 10.1063/1.1456959 Novel dislocation structure and surface morphology effects in relaxed Ge/Si-Ge(graded)/Si structures J. Appl. Phys. 81, 3108 (1997); 10.1063/1.364345 Structural characterization of Si0.7Ge0.3 layers grown on Si(001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

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Nanophotonics for ultrathin crystalline silicon photovoltaics: When photons (actually) meet electrons

by Inès Massiot, Enrique Garcia-Caurel, and R. Orobtchouk

Nanopatterning has recently demonstrated to be an efficient method for boosting the light absorpt... more Nanopatterning has recently demonstrated to be an efficient method for boosting the light absorption of thin films (< 50 µm) of crystalline silicon. However, convincing solar cell results are still missing. The goal of the European project PhotoNVoltaics is to investigate the impacts that nanopatterns have on thin crystalline silicon solar cells and to identify the conditions for their efficient integration. The present contribution presents the main findings of the consortium so far. Optical modeling and optimization of nanopatterned thin-film c-Si cells have indicated a few trends regarding the design of the optimum pattern for 1-40 µm thin foils: merged inverted nanopyramids, with their progressive profile seem to provide the best combination of antireflective and light trapping properties, together with negligible surface damage and best coating template for subsequent process steps. But despite the high Jsc enhancement that these nanopatterns are expected to bring, and despite the higher efficiency of these nanophotonic structures for 1-2 µm-thin foils, the absolute Jsc values indicate that thicker foils will have to be preferred if direct competition with wafer-based and thin-film technologies is concerned. An ideal structure is taking shape as an IBC heterojunction cell, with a frontside nanopattern and a thickness of 40 µm.

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Towards high-efficiency ultra-thin solar cells with nanopatterned metallic front contact

2013 IEEE 39th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2013

ABSTRACT We propose a novel design using multi-resonant absorption to achieve efficient light-tra... more ABSTRACT We propose a novel design using multi-resonant absorption to achieve efficient light-trapping in ultra-thin (&lt;; 100 nm) solar cells. It is based on a patterned metallic layer which i) strongly confines light in an ultra-thin and flat absorber layer and ii) plays the role of a front contact combining high optical transparency and good electrical conductivity. This versatile approach is applied to different solar cells materials (a-Si:H, GaAs) and geometries of the patterned film (1D or 2D). We demonstrate a theoretical conversion efficiency over 20 % using a 2D silver nanogrid to enhance absorption in a 25 nm-thick GaAs absorber layer. First demonstrators were fabricated and optically characterized. This work should pave the way towards high-efficiency ultra-thin solar cells.

Multi-resonant absorption in ultra-thin silicon solar cells with metallic nanowires

by Clément Colin, Inès Massiot, and P. Lalanne

Optics Express, 2013

We propose a design to confine light absorption in flat and ultra-thin amorphous silicon solar ce... more We propose a design to confine light absorption in flat and ultra-thin amorphous silicon solar cells with a one-dimensional silver grating embedded in the front window of the cell. We show numerically that multi-resonant light trapping is achieved in both TE and TM polarizations. Each resonance is analyzed in detail and modeled by Fabry-Perot resonances or guided modes via grating coupling. This approach is generalized to a complete amorphous silicon solar cell, with the additional degrees of freedom provided by the buffer layers. These results could guide the design of resonant structures for optimized ultra-thin solar cells.

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Metal Nanogrid for Broadband Multiresonant Light-Harvesting in Ultrathin GaAs Layers

by Inès Massiot and Nicolas Vandamme

ACS Photonics, 2014

Most plasmonic super absorbers use the excitation of surface plasmons to achieve perfect absorpti... more Most plasmonic super absorbers use the excitation of surface plasmons to achieve perfect absorption in metal nanostructures. We present a design for an ultrathin metal−semiconductor−metal super absorber where light is mainly absorbed within a flat 25 nm thick GaAs semiconductor layer. The top metal layer is patterned as a two-dimensional grid with a subwavelength period and is covered with a thin embedding dielectric layer. We show numerically multiresonant absorption with low polarization and angular dependence. We experimentally demonstrate optical absorption above 80% over the 450−830 nm spectral range using a gold nanogrid. This work opens perspectives toward ultrathin active plasmonic optoelectronic devices and, in particular, highly efficient ultrathin solar cells.

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Low-temperature SiGe PECVD epitaxy: From wafer equivalent to ultra-thin crystalline solar cells on inexpensive substrates

ABSTRACT A standard RF-PECVD reactor is used to grow epitaxial SiGe layers at 175°C on c-Si (100)... more ABSTRACT A standard RF-PECVD reactor is used to grow epitaxial SiGe layers at 175°C on c-Si (100) substrates. By adding GeH4 to SiH4/H2 plasmas, we show for the first time epitaxial SiGe alloys with Ge atomic fraction up to 35% grown at such low temperature. Few μm thick layers are used as an absorber in the wafer equivalent approach: thin film c-Si(p++)/epi-Si1-xGex/a-Si:H(n+) heterojunction solar cells are fabricated. Structural and electronic properties of these materials are investigated using Ellipsometry, Raman, TEM, J(V) characteristics and EQE. Simulations of device structure are performed with PC1D. Stress induced lift off enables detachment and transfer of ultra-thin Si layers of 1 cm2, on inexpensive substrate. Crystal quality is not affected by the transfer process, and first proof of concept of PECVD epitaxial ultrathin transferred solar diode is obtained.

Photonic nanostructures for advanced light trapping in thin crystalline silicon solar cells

by Inès Massiot and Enrique Garcia-Caurel

physica status solidi (a), 2014

Phone: þ32 16 28 15 25, Fax: þ32 16 28 80 60

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Nanopatterned front contact for broadband absorption in ultra-thin amorphous silicon solar cells

Applied Physics Letters, 2012

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High-efficient ultra-thin solar cells

by Inès Massiot and F. Pardo

Broadband light-trapping in ultra-thin nano-structured solar cells

by Clément Colin, Inès Massiot, and Jean-François Guillemoles

Physics, Simulation, and Photonic Engineering of Photovoltaic Devices II, 2013

Conventional light trapping techniques are inefficient at the sub-wavelength scale. This is the m... more Conventional light trapping techniques are inefficient at the sub-wavelength scale. This is the main limitation for the thickness reduction of thin-film solar cells below 500nm. We propose a novel architecture for broadband light absorption in ultra-thin active layers based on plasmonic nano-cavities and multi-resonant mechanism. Strong light enhancement will be shown numerically for photovoltaic materials such as CIGSe and GaAs. First experiments on ultrathin nano-patterned CIGSe solar cells will be presented.

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Ultrathin CIGS solar cells with optical nanoparticles

by Clément Colin and Inès Massiot

Low temperature epitaxial growth of Si and SiGe and their transfer to foreign substrate