Light trapping in thin film solar cells is crucial to safely reduce the thickness of the absorber, and hence the fabrication time and the usage of raw materials. At the same time, the use of simple and easily upscalable technology is mandatory to limit the fabrication costs. Of great importance is also that the trapping architecture, typically based on unsmooth surfaces, remains fully compatible with the deposition technique, so that the structural and electronic properties of the absorber and other active layers remain unaffected. The activity of the group is focussed on the design and development of light trapping strategies that keep together all the above requirements, thus aiming at the definition of a novel efficient and affordable silicon-based thin film device. Nanoparticles, nanostructures, plasmonic effects, and nanotechnology in general, are all explored and exploited at best.

Contact person: Rita Rizzoli