Abstract—With the ongoing reduction in manufacturing costs, minimal mass, and substantial adaptability, ultra-thin  thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells are garnering increasing scholarly interest. Nevertheless, ultra- thin TPV cells are impeded by the limitation of their absorption capabilities when juxtaposed with traditional bulk cell alternatives. Consequently, the enhancement of absorption in ultra-thin  TPV cells is of paramount importance and constitutes the principal objective of this investigation. This study elucidates a hemispheri- cal-coupled light-trapping mechanism that incorporates an ultra-thin film of gallium antimonide (GaSb) sit- uated between an upper two-dimensional (2D) hemispherical metallic lattice and a lower metallic layer. The absorption spectra for the proposed configuration have consequently been calculated employing the finite- difference time-domain  (FDTD) method. The proposed design achieved a notable conversion efficiency of
45.32% under black-body radiation at a temperature of T = 2023 K. Moreover, the short-circuit current den- sity and open-circuit voltage parameters for the cell are significantly enhanced due to the plasmonic absorp- tion augmentation  provided by the suggested light-trapping  architecture.  These findings are expected to advance the evolution of innovative, cost-effective methodologies for the production of high-efficiency ultra- thin TPV solar cells.
 

Title

Semiconductors

Publisher

Springer-Pleiades Publishing, Ltd

Publisher Country

Russia

Indexing

Thomson Reuters

Impact Factor

0.6

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

59

Year

2025

Pages

404-411