Blue light absorption enhancement based on vertically channelling modes in nano-holes arrays

Guillaume Gomard (1) , Romain Peretti (1) , Ségolène Callard (1) , Xianqin Meng (1) , Rémy Artinyan (1) , Thierry Deschamps (1) , Pere Roca I. Cabarrocas (2) , Emmanuel Drouard (1) , Christian Seassal (1)

1 INL - Photonique - INL - Nanophotonique
2 LPICM - Laboratoire de physique des interfaces et des couches minces [Palaiseau]

We investigate the specific optical regime occurring at short wavelengths, in the high absorption regime, in silicon thin-films patterned by periodically arranged nano-holes. Near-field scanning optical microscopy indicates that the incoming light is coupled to vertically channelling modes. Optical modelling and simulations show that the light, travelling inside the low-index regions, is absorbed at the direct vicinity of the nano-holes sidewalls. This channelling regime should be taken into account for light management in optoelectronic devices.

Mots clés: Photonic crystals; Surface patterning; Finite difference time domain calculations; Solar cells; Nanopatterning; Etching; Nano optics; Doping; Optical absorption; Optical properties

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]

Guillaume Gomard, Romain Peretti, Ségolène Callard, Xianqin Meng, Rémy Artinyan, et al.. Blue light absorption enhancement based on vertically channelling modes in nano-holes arrays. Applied Physics Letters, 2014, 104 (5), pp.051119. ⟨10.1063/1.4864267⟩. ⟨hal-00943141⟩