Synthesis and Characterization of Neodymium Oxide Doped Phosphate Glass Matrix for Solar Cell Application

Conventional glass melt quenching method was used to prepare samples of the phosphate glass system. The nature of glass prepared was measured by x-ray diffraction, which shows no crystal content, and Archimedes method was used to measure the density, and hence, the molar volume was calculated. The effect of Neodymium content on density and molar volume was investigated. The density of the glass decreased by increasing the Neodymium content, while the molar volume VM follows the opposite trend. Optical absorption and transmission spectra were measured in the range from 190 to 1100 nm, and two broad bands are observed in both UV and IR regions. The obtained results were analyzed for the determination of the optical bandgap energy and different physical properties, such as permittivity, polarizability, refractive index and dielectric constant. The optical bandgap energy has been found to be dependent on Nd2O3 content. This behavior reveals the possibility of using such systems as effective top layer of the solar cell in a down-conversion system to reduce the waste photons.