ABSTRACT
The effect of a bilayer of different dimension silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) on light trapping in silicon solar cells is investigated. Here, we report on the improved performance of silicon solar cells by integrating two layers of silver nanoparticles of different sizes. We experimentally examine the plasmonic near-field and far-field effects of bilayer Ag NPs embedded within an anti-reflective DLC layer on silicon solar cells' optical and electrical characteristics. Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy drove the two-dimensional differences in the size of Ag NPs. The surface plasmon resonance of the two-dimensional nanoparticles was estimated from the absorption optical spectra. External quantum efficiency measurements showed that near-field or far-field plasmonic effects altered with the Ag NPs size. The development of far fields was confirmed by measuring the solar cell performance under AM 1.5 G illumination. The impact of the far-field in the cell containing two layers of Ag NPs, which outer layer is larger dimensions NPs, improves the current density up to 38.4 mA/cm2 (by 70% compared to the bare reference cell).
ABSTRACT
In this paper, the influences of the depth and width of the oxide trench isolation between pixels, pixel epitaxial layer thickness for different impurity doping concentrations, and light exposure time on electrical crosstalk are characterized in an array of pinned photodiode CMOS image sensor pixels. The simulation results show that with a proper and simultaneous selection of epitaxial layer doping concentration and epitaxial layer thickness, the electrical crosstalk at long wavelengths can be reduced above 66%. The use of oxide trench isolation depth less than pixel p-well depth leads to an increase in electrical crosstalk of more than 12%. The effect of increasing light exposure time on increasing electrical crosstalk can be minimized by selecting proper epitaxial layer thicknesses.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, a complete investigation and 2D simulation of electrical crosstalk in a setup with three neighboring pinned photodiode complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor pixels are performed. Electrical crosstalk characterization as a function of pixel size and epitaxial layer doping concentration is presented. The simulation results in constant epitaxial layer doping concentration show that the ratio of external quantum efficiency to electrical crosstalk is linear with respect to pixel size. In the pixel size of 3.7 µm, the turning point in the correlation trend between external quantum efficiency and electrical crosstalk from a small pixel size to a large one occurs. In addition, the simulation results show the optimal values of external quantum efficiency and electrical crosstalk occurs at 1×1014 (cm-3) in a constant pixel size. Moreover, the ratio of external quantum efficiency to the electrical crosstalk decreases linearly with respect to the epitaxial layer doping considering above 1×1014 (cm-3).
