Comparative Analysis of Graded-Index and Quarter-Wave One-Dimensional Photonic Crystal Filters for GaSb Thermophotovoltaic Cells
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Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems are important for the clean energy transition due to their applications in waste heat recovery, solar energy harvesting, and thermal energy grid storage. This study presents a comprehensive investigation of the performance of TPV systems equipped with one‐dimensional photonic crystal filters. The optical characteristics of the filter comprised of porous SiO 2 nanoparticle and dense ZrO 2 films are numerically evaluated. The results demonstrate the choice of filter significantly influences the emitter temperature, power density, system efficiency, and spectral performance. Further, the analysis underscores the inherent tradeoff in designing optical filters between achieving elevated in‐band transmittance and maximizing out‐of‐band reflectance. Under a constant flux of 60 W cm −2 from a heat source a conventional double‐stack quarter‐wave optical filter achieves a TPV system efficiency of 28.9%. In contrast, an optimized filter structure, consisting of a double‐stack modified quarter‐wave optical filter, increases TPV system efficiency to 29.1%. Introducing the optimized filter with a graded index profile into the TPV system as a photon recycling tool results in a 27% TPV system efficiency. This is a significant improvement compared to the case without a filter, which has a system efficiency of 15.8%.
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A ZrO2/SiO2-based filter with a modified double-quarter-wave stack configuration leads to an efficiency of approximately 29%, compared to 16% without.
“The modified double-quarter-wave stack configuration shows promising results, leading to an efficiency of approximately 29% compared to the case without, where the efficiency was only 16%.”
From Metal Oxide Thin Films for Advanced Photonic Applications (2026) · cites this paper as [58]
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Metal Oxide Thin Films for Advanced Photonic Applications
Stîngescu, M.-L., Șopronyi, M.-A., Antohe, Ș., & Scărișoreanu, N.-D. (2026) · Crystals · doi:10.3390/cryst16030164 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Sepah Mansoor, M., Talebzadeh, N., & O’Brien, P. G.
- Affiliations
- Department of Mechanical Engineering Lassonde School of Engineering York University Toronto Ontario M3J 1P3 Canada
- York University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- O’Brien, Paul G.
- Venue
- Energy Technology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2025-03-23
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 9
- ISSN
- 2194-4288 (ISSN-L)
- 2194-4296
- OpenAlex
- W4408753183
- Cited by
- 5
- References
- 86
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5
- FWCI
- 1.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Energy Technology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (RGPIN‐2024‐06245, ALLRP 576861‐22)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Civil and Structural Engineering › Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Photonic Crystals and Applications
- Keywords
- thermophotovoltaic cells, ZrO2 films, photon recycling, waste heat recovery
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