High-efficiency and cost-effective manufacturing of solar cells based on localized surface plasmonic resonance.

Improving photovoltaic efficiency is essential to the early realization of universal solar cell application, which has proven to be the most promising solution to the global energy transition. Therefore, we propose a thin-film GaAs solar cell with TiO 2 quantum dots, plasmonic Ag nanoparticles, and the AlGaAs window layer. First, we using the finite difference time domain method to simulate the electromagnetic wave propagation and the solar cell light absorption under set boundary conditions to test whether the TiO 2 quantum dots and plasmonic Ag nanoparticles can improve the cell light-trapping ability. The results show that the light absorption of the cell can be maintained above 95% in the visible wavelength range of 300–721 nm, with an average absorption of 97.7%. The photoabsorption effect is particularly prominent at 558 nm, with an absorption rate of 99.86%. The p-n junction doping concentration and the molar fraction of the AlGaAs window layer were optimized to obtain better photovoltaic performance parameters. The results show that AlGaAs reduces incident light loss and possesses a higher potential barrier in the emitter region because of its wider band gap, effectively lowering carrier recombination rate and consequently enhancing the photovoltaics characteristics of the cell. The short-circuit current density, open-circuit voltage, and photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of the thin-film GaAs solar cell improved to 30.01 mA/cm2, 1.247 V, and 33.43%, respectively. Thus, this study provides an effective strategy for high-performance fabrication of the thin-film solar cells, demonstrating significant potential for broad applications in cost-effective solar cell usage and mitigating the climate change crisis. • the light absorption of the cell can be maintained above 95% in the visible wavelength range of 300–721 nm, with an average absorption of 97.7%. • The photoabsorption effect is particularly prominent at 558 nm, with an absorption rate of 99.86%. • The short-circuit current density, open-circuit voltage, and photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of the thin-film GaAs solar cell improved to 30.01 mA/cm2, 1.247 V, and 33.43%, respectively. ls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]