Morphological investigation and 3D simulation of plasmonic nanostructures to improve the efficiency of perovskite solar cells

Abstract

The process of absorbing light in perovskite solar cells (PSC) is one of the effective factors in improving the performance of this type of cells. Using arrays of metal nanostructures on semiconductors such as perovskite (CH3NH3PbI3), the amount of light absorption in these layers is significantly increased. Metal nanostructures have been considered for their ability to excite plasmons (Collective oscillations of free electrons). Noble metal nanoparticles placed inside solar cells, by increasing the scattering of the incident light, effectively increase the optical absorption inside PSCs. Increasing the optical absorption increases the electric current generated in the photovoltaic device. In this study, by calculating the cross-sectional area of dispersion and absorption on gold (Au) nanoparticles, the effects of the position of nanoparticles in the active layer and their morphology on the increase of absorption within the PSC were investigated. The proper position of the plasmonic nanoparticle was obtained in the middle of the active layer. In a three-dimensional (3D) simulation, the proper position of the plasmonic nanoparticle was obtained in the middle of the active layer. Then, three different morphologies of nano-sphere, nano-star and nano-cubes were investigated, and the short-circuit currents (Jsc) for these three nanostructures were 19.01 (mA/cm2), 18.66 (mA/cm2) and 20.03(mA/cm2) respectively. In this study, the best morphology of the nanostructure according to the Jsc was related to the nano-cube, in which the device power conversion efficiency (PCE) was equal to 16.20%, which is about 15% better than the PSC with the planar architecture.