Simulation and analysis of light absorption in a new four-layered structure based on a metamaterial/graphene pair for solar cells

In this work, a new four-layer structure based on metamaterial/graphene pair is modeled as a solar cell. The proposed four-layer model consists of a silicon substrate, a metamaterial/graphene pair, and a semi-infinite glass cover. The absorption coefficient is derived and computed versus different layers’ parameters. The effect of the metamaterial refractive index and thickness on the absorption is highlighted as well as the effect of the graphene conductivity and thickness. The incidence angle impact on the absorption is also taken into consideration. Results show that the absorption can be totally controlled through changing the metamaterial parameters in visible and near-infrared radiation, as well as the incident angle. The absorption of the structure achieves values greater than 99% for incident electromagnetic waves of transverse electric (TE) and magnetic (TM) polarization.