Low-cost and high-throughput realization of metasurface-based absorber/emitter for thermal-photovoltaic cells

Alireza Bonakdar; Mohsen Rezaei; Eric Dexheimer; Hooman Mohseni

doi:10.1117/12.2189232

28 August 2015 Low-cost and high-throughput realization of metasurface-based absorber/emitter for thermal-photovoltaic cells

Alireza Bonakdar, Mohsen Rezaei, Eric Dexheimer, Hooman Mohseni

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9547, Plasmonics: Metallic Nanostructures and Their Optical Properties XIII; 954725 (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2189232
Event: SPIE Nanoscience + Engineering, 2015, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

A thermal photovoltaic cell (TPV) is an optical heat engine that can extract energy from an emitter with elevated temperature. In theory, the efficiency of a TPV can reach to 80% by wavelength conversion, yet in practice, only 3.2% efficiency has been achieved. The main physical drawback is to maintain the device operation at very high temperature while managing total solar spectrum absorption and efficient coupling of the narrow-band thermal radiation into the photovoltaic cell. In this vein, utilizing of a nanophotonic structure to undergo the wavelength conversion of solar energy is inevitable. Furthermore, low cost, large area and high throughput realization of such a structure brings TPV beyond the research lab. Simultaneous tailoring of UV/visible and mid-infrared spectrums requires sub-100-nm feature size, which is challenging with conventional photolithography if it is not impossible. We have developed a microsphere deep-UV lithography that can produce minimum feature size of ~ 50 nm at extremely low cost and high throughput. In this work, we demonstrate a metasurface platform fabricated with this lithography technique which has omni-polarization and -angle absorption in visible spectrum and efficient emission at mid-infrared as confirmed both by FDTD simulation and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurement. The developed technique is promising technology to expedite TPV in real-life energy harvesting applications.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Alireza Bonakdar, Mohsen Rezaei, Eric Dexheimer, and Hooman Mohseni "Low-cost and high-throughput realization of metasurface-based absorber/emitter for thermal-photovoltaic cells", Proc. SPIE 9547, Plasmonics: Metallic Nanostructures and Their Optical Properties XIII, 954725 (28 August 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2189232

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available