DOI: https://doi.org/10.36347/sjpms.2025.v12i10.001

Pages: 435-467

This review reframes photovoltaic (PV) devices through a light–matter engineering lens, treating the absorber stack as an active medium whose optical, electronic, and thermal pathways must be co-optimized for both efficiency and operational reliability. It surveys how mature platforms (Si, CIGS, CdTe, III–V) and emerging absorbers (perovskites, organics, quantum dots, and 2D semiconductors) respond to optical-field design strategies, and why these strategies become more critical in tandem and multifunctional architectures where spectral and electrical matching govern performance. The methodology emphasizes linking ultrafast and spatially resolved spectroscopy (e.g., carrier relaxation, diffusion, and recombination signatures) to device-relevant loss channels, enabling diagnosis of interface- and grain-boundary-limited operation. Building on this foundation, the review compares plasmonic and dielectric nanostructures, metasurfaces, and photonic textures for light trapping while accounting for parasitic absorption and stability tradeoffs. It then consolidates laser-enabled photonic structuring (ns/ps/fs regimes, LIPSS, direct writing, local defect healing and contact formation) as a scalable route to pattern, repair, and tune thin-film PV stacks. Finally, it outlines fabrication and passivation options and discusses how laser steps can be integrated into manufacturing lines with inline metrology and yield control. Overall, the article provides a device-to-process roadmap for designing PV stacks where optical gains translate into durable, manufacturable performance.