Design of a broadband solar absorber based on Fe2O3/CuO thin film absorption structure

Various materials have been investigated at the nanoscale to improve the solar absorber's efficiency in the absorption of solar energy. Here in this paper various structures having multiple layers of thin film combination of Fe2O3 and CuO have been investigated. The thickness of both layers is varying from 500 to 1000 nm with a step size of 100 nm. This structure is numerically investigated with the help of COMSOL multiphysics software in this paper where fabrication of the same can be done by using dip-coating or spin-coating-like methods. The optimized structure provides absorption of about 97% over the solar spectrum. Where average absorption of 98% in ultra-violate and visible regions which cover the high range of solar spectrum and in the infra-red region, an average absorption of 96%. Higher than 95%, 97%, and 99% of absorption in the range of 2340 nm, 1760 nm, and 565 nm are observed, respectively. These materials can also be used in optical detectors from 1405 to 1970 nm range and can be used in optical communication. At the wavelength of 1690 nm, it shows 99.9998% absorption indicating the usefulness of these materials for detection purposes alongside solar-thermal devices.

Automated summary

In this study, a numerical investigation was conducted on thin film combinations of Fe2O3 and CuO with multiple layers. The optimized structure showed an average absorption of 98% in the ultraviolet and visible regions and 96% in the infrared region of the solar spectrum. These materials have potential applications in optical detectors and communication, with a high absorption rate of 99.9998% at a wavelength of 1690 nm.