2D Quantum Dot Solar Concentrator Cross-Section

This companion simulation ray-traces the same real quantum-dot luminescent-concentrator physics as the 3D scene, but as an independently computed 2D cross-section through the slab's thickness rather than a flattened render of the 3D world. Photons enter through the top face, are absorbed with a Beer–Lambert probability set by the quantum-dot concentration, and re-emit at an angle drawn uniformly from the full 2D circle. Whether a re-emitted photon escapes directly or is trapped by total internal reflection depends on a genuinely 2D escape-cone geometry — a plane-angle statistic, 1 − 2θc/π, that is mathematically distinct from the 3D scene's solid-angle formula √(n²−1)/n, even though both derive from the same critical angle θc = arcsin(1/n). Trapped photons zig-zag toward the left or right edge PV strip, competing the whole way against re-absorption/quenching set by the Stokes shift. Tune concentration, Stokes shift, matrix refractive index and edge coupling and watch the live optical budget converge toward the closed-form 2D prediction shown alongside it.