AVS 61st International Symposium & Exhibition
    Energy Frontiers Focus Topic Monday Sessions
       Session EN+EM+MN+NS+TR-MoA

Invited Paper EN+EM+MN+NS+TR-MoA1
Optical Engineering for Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaics

Monday, November 10, 2014, 2:00 pm, Room 315

Session: Energy Harvesting with Nanostructures
Presenter: Susanna Thon, Johns Hopkins University
Correspondent: Click to Email

The next generation of photovoltaics seeks to improve both efficiency and cost through the use of flexible platforms and new materials. Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs), semiconductor nanoparticles synthesized from solution, are a particularly attractive material for solar energy. The bandgap of films composed of arrays of CQDs can be tuned via the quantum confinement effect for tailored spectral utilization. The performance of CQD solar cells is currently limited by an absorption-extraction compromise, whereby photon absorption lengths in the near infrared regime exceed minority carrier diffusion lengths. I will review several photonic and optical engineering schemes aimed at overcoming this compromise. These include nanophotonic and geometric light trapping techniques, as well as jointly-tuned plasmonic-excitonic photovoltaics. Additionally, I will discuss how nanoscale engineering of CQDs and related materials can lead to emergent optical properties for building color-tuned optoelectronic films.