Emergent Non-Equilibrium Emission Profiles via Luminescent Angle Restriction for Photovoltaic Energy Conversion
Abstract
The detailed-balance method determines photovoltaic conversion efficiencies by relating non-equilibrium converter operation to an equilibrium reference state. Conventionally, the angular and spectral radiative channels are assumed to be defined by the equilibrium absorptivity and emissivity, with the photon chemical potential setting their occupation. The spatial distribution of emission must also be considered when radiative energy is redistributed within a complex nanophotonic converter architecture. Here we analyze this redistribution with a proposed luminescent angle restrictor, in which a flat-plate photovoltaic absorber is coupled to an overlayer with vertically aligned nanorods. The nanorod layer is nearly transparent to near-normal sunlight, while oblique photovoltaic luminescence can be absorbed, re-emitted, and partially returned to the absorber. To calculate the operating emission profile, we develop a Markov-chain transport model with an absorbing-chain formulation that enforces microscopic reversibility for local optical transitions while determining the spatially distributed steady-state emission rates. The model recovers the flat-plate detailed-balance limit and predicts voltage-dependent external emission profiles from the coupled architecture. Under idealized conditions, this non-equilibrium angular redistribution increases conversion efficiency relative to the conventional flat-plate reference. We further evaluate nanorod photoluminescence quantum yield, angular restriction, orientational disorder, and Auger recombination to identify practical constraints on the proposed architecture. These results show how detailed-balance limits for photovoltaic structures can depend on internal radiative energy redistribution and the resulting non-equilibrium emission profile, beyond what can be inferred from the macroscopic equilibrium optical response alone.
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BibTeX
@misc{mctague2026emergent,
title = {{Emergent Non-Equilibrium Emission Profiles via Luminescent Angle Restriction for Photovoltaic Energy Conversion}},
author = {Jonathan McTague and Rivi Ratnaweera and Matthew Sheldon},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2607.20783},
eprint = {2607.20783},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.20783},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Emergent Non-Equilibrium Emission Profiles via Luminescent Angle Restriction for Photovoltaic Energy Conversion
AU - Jonathan McTague
AU - Rivi Ratnaweera
AU - Matthew Sheldon
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/06
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2607.20783
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.20783
AB - The detailed-balance method determines photovoltaic conversion efficiencies by relating non-equilibrium converter operation to an equilibrium reference state. Conventionally, the angular and spectral radiative channels are assumed to be defined by the equilibrium absorptivity and emissivity, with the photon chemical potential setting their occupation. The spatial distribution of emission must also be considered when radiative energy is redistributed within a complex nanophotonic converter architecture. Here we analyze this redistribution with a proposed luminescent angle restrictor, in which a flat-plate photovoltaic absorber is coupled to an overlayer with vertically aligned nanorods. The nanorod layer is nearly transparent to near-normal sunlight, while oblique photovoltaic luminescence can be absorbed, re-emitted, and partially returned to the absorber. To calculate the operating emission profile, we develop a Markov-chain transport model with an absorbing-chain formulation that enforces microscopic reversibility for local optical transitions while determining the spatially distributed steady-state emission rates. The model recovers the flat-plate detailed-balance limit and predicts voltage-dependent external emission profiles from the coupled architecture. Under idealized conditions, this non-equilibrium angular redistribution increases conversion efficiency relative to the conventional flat-plate reference. We further evaluate nanorod photoluminescence quantum yield, angular restriction, orientational disorder, and Auger recombination to identify practical constraints on the proposed architecture. These results show how detailed-balance limits for photovoltaic structures can depend on internal radiative energy redistribution and the resulting non-equilibrium emission profile, beyond what can be inferred from the macroscopic equilibrium optical response alone.
ER -