Cambridge-AMOLF Collaboration on Photonic and Optoelectronic Control of Thin-Film LEDs and Solar Cells

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This Centre-to-Centre collaboration addresses a set of research opportunities that require the close integration of optoelectronic materials and device engineering with state-of-the-art light management for large area solar cells and LEDs. The collaboration brings the AMOLF LMPV group, recognised for its work in 'light management' for solar cells, to work closely with the Cambridge research programme on thin-film perovskite and organic solar cells and LEDs. The AMOLF activity is centred in the very strong 'national laboratory' framework of solar cell research in the Netherlands, and brings strengths that have not been systematically developed in the UK. Thin-film diodes made with lead halide perovskites now support solar cells and LEDs with excellent electronic properties, but challenges with light in/outcoupling can limit performance. This is a particular challenge for perovskite LEDs for which light outcoupling is currently limited to 20%. By harnessing the special luminescent properties of perovskites, including photon recycling, with engineered optical structures, the outcoupling in the forward direction will be raised towards 100%.One way to improve a solar cell beyond the single-junction limit is to harvest the high-energy part of the solar spectrum with an organic material capable of singlet fission, a process by which the energy from one high-energy photon is shared between two lower-energy triplet exciton states. Cambridge has pioneered the science of singlet fission and developed the concept of the Photon Multiplier. In this all-optical thin-film device, incident high-energy photons (<540nm) will be converted into two low-energy photons, each at around 1000 nm, which can then be absorbed by a silicon solar cell underneath. The challenge to be undertaken here is to develop suitable photonic designs that direct the emission of these IR photons towards the Si solar cell without introducing optical losses in the module.