Enhancing light matter interaction in solar technologies through metasurface enabled photovoltaic architectures

Reflections from a photovoltaic (PV) cell present a significant source of efficiency loss in devices today. Maximizing efficiency requires that incident light is not reflected en route to the absorber layer and that the light that does enter is not subsequently reflected back out or transmitted through the device i.e asymmetric transmission is required. Metasurfaces provide a flexible design paradigm to enable the engineering of electromagnetic space and controlling the propagation of light and its interaction with matter through subwavelength structuring.


This project benefits the widespread adoption of solar technologies, by maximizing the economic efficiency of energy conversion through enhanced light matter interaction enabled by incorporation of metasurface layers that exhibit broadband asymmetric transmission within all traditional PV architectures. The project will produce a modeling platform for incorporation into all types of solar cells and device prototypes as deliverables.

Asymmetric transmission and variable beam splitting using coherently coupled all-dielectric grating-insulator-grating (GIG) metamaterials

Ashwin K. Iyer, Behrad Gholipour, Abbas Sheikh Ansari

Conference Proceedings

Asymmetric transmission in nanophotonics

Ashwin K. Iyer, Behrad Gholipour, Abbas Sheikh Ansari

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Roadmap for phase change materials in photonics and beyond

Behrad Gholipour, Abbas Sheikh Ansari, Avik Mandal

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Roadmap on Chalcogenide Photonics

Behrad Gholipour, Avik Mandal

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article