ABSTRACT
We present a systematic study of the effect of variation of the zinc oxide (ZnO) and copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) layer thickness on the absorption characteristics of CIGS solar cells using a simulation program based on finite element method (FEM). We show that the absorption in the CIGS layer does not decrease monotonically with its layer thickness due to interference effects. Ergo, high precision is required in the CIGS production process, especially when using ultra-thin absorber layers, to accurately realize the required thickness of the ZnO, cadmium sulfide (CdS) and CIGS layer. We show that patterning the ZnO window layer can strongly suppress these interference effects allowing a higher tolerance in the production process.
ABSTRACT
We have found an alternative way of achieving a doughnutlike focused spot by simply melting a subwavelength scatterer in a polycarbonate/ZnS sample. The near-field microscopy technique is used to directly measure the induced doughnut spot in the near-field regime. A numerical model based on rigorous solution of the Maxwell's equations is proposed to study the phenomena. The simulations help to understand the optical mechanism behind the spot formation.
ABSTRACT
Polarization gratings can be realized by polarization holographic recording in photoanisotropic materials. In this paper, we study two types of polarization gratings. One is recorded with two orthogonally circularly (OC) polarized beams and the other one with two orthogonally linearly (OL) polarized beams. The interference of both cases is explored beyond the small recording angle regime. A novel method is proposed to represent the polarization states of the modulation. The diffraction by polarization gratings is studied with rigorous diffraction theory. Simulations based on the Finite Element Method are performed for both OC and OL polarization gratings at small and large recording angles.
Subject(s)
Anisotropy , Microscopy, Polarization/methods , Optics and Photonics , Algorithms , Computer Simulation , Equipment Design , Finite Element Analysis , Light , Microscopy, Interference/methods , Models, Statistical , RefractometryABSTRACT
Recently, a novel holographic diffraction grating made of polymer slices alternated to homogeneous films of nematic liquid crystal (POLICRYPS) was realized. We study the optical performance of the POLICRYPS gratings by both numerical simulations and experiments. Characterization of the grating at normal and conical reading mount are performed. The diffraction efficiency depends strongly on the angles of incidence. Besides, the characterization of the diffraction efficiency at Bragg angle incidence is studied. A uniform high diffraction efficiency is achieved when the incident wave satisfies the Bragg condition.
Subject(s)
Computer-Aided Design , Liquid Crystals/chemistry , Models, Theoretical , Polymers/chemistry , Refractometry/instrumentation , Computer Simulation , Equipment Design , Equipment Failure Analysis , Materials TestingABSTRACT
We present a three-dimensional model based on the finite-element method for solving the time-harmonic Maxwell equation in optics. It applies to isotropic or anisotropic dielectrics and metals and to many configurations such as an isolated scatterer in a multilayer, bi-gratings, and crystals. We discuss the application of the model to near-field optical recording.
