Related papers: Semiconductor-Dielectric-Metal Solar Absorbers wit…
It is of significance to incorporate spectral selectivity technology into solar thermal engineering, especially at high operational temperatures. This work demonstrates spectrally selective solar absorbers made of multilayer tungsten,…
The design and fabrication of a metal-dielectric-metal absorber that achieves strong absorption from the ultraviolet (UV) to the near-infrared (near-IR) spectrum are presented. The proposed nanostructure consists of a periodic titanium (Ti)…
In this work, a metamaterial selective solar absorber made of nanostructured titanium gratings deposited on an ultrathin MgF2 spacer and a tungsten ground film is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Normal absorptance of the…
This paper presents fabrication, measurement and modelling results for a metal-dielectric-metal metasurface absorber for solar thermal applications. The structure uses amorphous carbon as an inter-layer between thin gold films with the…
Power-conversion efficiency is a critical factor for the wider adoption of solar-cell modules. Thin-film solar cells are cheap and easy to manufacture, but their efficiencies are low compared to crystalline-silicon solar cells and need to…
Selective solar absorbers (SSAs) with high performance are the key to concentrated solar power systems. Optical metamaterials are emerging as a promising strategy to enhance selective photon absorption, however, the high-temperature…
We demonstrate a broadband, polarization independent, omnidirectional absorber based on a metallic metasurface architecture, which accomplishes greater than 90% absorptance in the visible and near-infrared range of the solar spectrum, and…
Ultrathin planar absorbing layers, including semiconductor and metal films, and 2D materials, are promising building blocks for solar energy harvesting devices but poor light absorption has been a critical issue. Although interference in…
The absorption of electromagnetic radiation by a planar structure, consisting of a three-layer dielectric-metal-dielectric coating on a metal back-reflector is analysed. The conditions for total absorption are derived. Our analysis shows…
Enabling perfect light absorption in ultrathin materials promises the development of exotic photonic devices. Here we demonstrate new strategies that can provide capabilities to rationally design ultrathin (thickness <…
Using metamaterial absorbers, we have shown that metallic layers in the absorbers do not necessarily constitute undesired resistive heating problem for photovoltaics. Tailoring the geometric skin depth of metals and employing the natural…
Spectrally selective absorbers that maximize solar absorption and minimize thermal radiation loss are crucial for efficient solar thermal energy harvesting. However, limitations imposed by the intrinsic properties of conventional materials…
Concentrating solar power, particularly parabolic trough system with solar concentrations less than 50, requires spectrally selective solar absorbers that are thermally stable at high temperatures of 400degC above to achieve high…
Semiconductor emitter can possibly achieve sharp cutoff wavelength due to its intrinsic bandgap absorption and almost zero sub-bandgap emission without doping. A germanium wafer based selective emitter with front-side antireflection and…
Understanding the maximal enhancement of solar absorption in semiconductor materials by light trapping promises the development of affordable solar cells. However, the conventional Lambertian limit is only valid for idealized material…
Engineered optical absorbers are of substantial interest for applications ranging from stray light reduction to energy conversion. We demonstrate a large-area (centimeter-scale) metamaterial that features near-unity frequency-selective…
Spectrally selective solar absorbers (SSAs), harvesting sunlight into heat, are the key to the concentrated solar thermal systems. Current SSAs' designs using photonic crystals, metamaterials, or cermets are either cost-inefficient or have…
Broadband absorption in the visible spectrum is essential in optoelectronic applications that involve power conversion such as photovoltaics and photocatalysis. Most ultrathin broadband absorbers use parasitic plasmonic structures that…
Simulations of metal nanopatterns embedded in a thin photovoltaic absorber show significantly enhanced absorbance within the semiconductor, with a more than 300% increase for {\lambda} = 800 nm. Integrating with AM1.5 solar irradiation,…
A metamaterial composed of thin metallic strips as an efficient broadband absorber in the mid-infrared spectrum is investigated. Here the matching between dielectric and geometrical properties of the individual elements is critical to…