Metamaterial opens up solar cell designs
The team from the NUST MISIS Laboratory of Superconducting Metamaterials in Moscow haev built a non-emitting diffusing material that is transparent to electromagnetic radiation, called an anapole. Last year, a team from the Laboratory and colleagues from the University of Crete at Heraklion showed that an anapole is an ideal resonator and when irradiated, retains all the energy inside itself, while the electromagnetic oscillations fade very slowly.
Compared to metallic metamaterials, dielectric metamaterials are more promising as they do not heat under exposure to electromagnetic radiation, which minimizes their energy dispersion. Dielectric metamaterials are currently made with complex dielectric (spherical or cylindrical) nanoparticles or by the deposition of various nanolayers. However, the research team built the metamaterials by perforating holes in the thin film of silicon or other dielectrics. One of the easiest ways to do this is to use a focused ion beam (FIB) that create holes up to 5 nm in diameter.
“In the theoretical part of the experiment, we were able to show that in the optical frequency range it will be possible to excite a special anapole condition which is promising for the strong localization of electromagnetic fields, as well as sensors. In addition, we have found that these metamaterials can be transparent to electromagnetic waves, which in real experiments with silicon should show the evidence of our technique and significantly increase the transparency of silicon plates, for example, for use in solar batteries”, said Alexey Basharin, head of the project.
The team is now working on the experimental use of the material for solar cells and nano-optics.
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