Improved performance of amorphous silicon solar cells via scattering from surface plasmon polaritons in nearby metallic nanoparticles

Abstract

An engineered enhancement in short-circuit current density and energy conversion efficiency in amorphous silicon p-in solar cells is achieved via improved transmission of electromagnetic radiation arising from forward scattering by surface plasmon polariton modes in Au nanoparticles deposited above the amorphous silicon film. For a Au nanoparticle density of ϳ3.7ϫ 10 8 cm −2 , an 8.1% increase in short-circuit current density and an 8.3% increase in energy conversion efficiency are observed. Finite-element electromagnetic simulations confirm the expected increase in transmission of electromagnetic radiation at visible wavelengths, and suggest that substantially larger improvements should be attainable for higher nanoparticle densities.

Microstructural evolution of Au/TiO2 nanocomposite films: The influence of Au concentration and thermal annealing

“…Among the various technological applications, the examples in the fields of photovoltaics [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], pollutant-degradation materials [20], metamaterials [21], gas sensors [22,23] and those of surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy [24] are of particular importance, associated with several other types of possibilities within optical and sensor devices [25][26][27][28]. Moreover, the interactions of noble metal clusters, dispersed in a dielectric matrix, with biological agents may result in changes of the…”

Exceeding the limit of plasmonic light trapping in textured screen-printed solar cells using Al nanoparticles and wrinkle-like graphene sheets

“…However, current research on plasmonic solar cells focuses on Ag nanoparticle-enhanced and Au nanoparticle-enhanced solar cells. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]13,14 Al nanoparticle-enhanced solar cells have not been realized because a method to simultaneously synthesize Al nanoparticles and control the low surface coverage has not been developed. An Al nanostructure is too active to be produced by a wet-chemical method under ambient temperatures.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Because plasmonic nanoparticles are integrated into photovoltaic devices with relatively low surface coverages (typically less than 30%), light-trapping effects increase solar cell absorption and enhance the short-circuit photocurrent density (J sc ) of not only newgeneration solar cells (organic solar cells and dye-sensitized solar cells), 1,2 but textured screen-printed silicon solar cells 12,13 which dominate the photovoltaic market. However, plasmonic nanostructures suffer from parasitic absorption that cannot contribute to photocurrents; thus, the performance of plasmonic solar cells is limited.…”

Improved efficiency of thin film a-Si:H solar cells with Au nanoparticles

“…More recently, nanotechnology has been used with plasmonic light trapping of metal nanoparticles (NP) like gold (Au) or silver (Ag) [3][4][5]. For incorporating metal NPs into solar cells, different methods have been established that includes island annealing and colloidal metal particles [6][7]. Also, some numerical models have been developed to understand the plasmonic effect [8].…”