Investigation of Optical Absorption Spectra and Scattering Efficiency of ZnO:Al Nanorods on Different Substrates

Abstract Increasing the efficiency of silicon based Thin Film Solar (TFS) cells, needs use of better light management techniques. A TFS cell developed on nanorods is optically thick for sufficient light absorption, while electrically thin to provide efficient carrier collection. In the present work, ZnO:Al nanorods have been developed on various substrates such as glass, ZnO:Al and Si wafer by hydrothermal method. Light scattering by these nanorods along with the electric field distribution of scattered light has been investigated using FDTD solutions. It has been observed that the scattering efficiency and radiative efficiency exhibits highest values for nanorods on Si wafer among all.