Plasmon Effect in Si Solar Cells Coated with a Thin Polymer Film Containing Silver or Gold Nanoparticles

Abstract

To apply surface plasmon effects to Si solar cells, thin polymer films containing nanoparticles of silver and gold were fabricated using the spin-coating method. Advantages of this method are that it is simple, and that there is no possibility to produce additional crystal defects as surface recombination centers. Thin polymer films showed an absorption peak, anti-reflection effect and the haze ratio increase. In particular, thin polymer films containing gold nanoparticles were promising for improving Si solar cells, because the film had the longest peak wavelength and the lowest reflectance (3.84% at 800 nm), overall haze ratio increase caused by localized surface plasmon. Enhancement ratio in photocurrent conversion efficiency was 12% for single-crystal Si solar cells after being spin-coated with a thin polymer film containing gold nanoparticles. Enhancement ratio of the external quantum efficiency was 22% at the peak wavelength, caused by antireflection due to scattering by metal nanoparticles.

Combination of the Opposing Effects of Silver Nanoparticles and Peptide Nucleic Acids on Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells to Enhance their Respective Positive Influence

“…As the surface plasmon resonance wavelength is known to depend on the particle size, the similarity in the peak position suggests similar sizes of the nanoparticles (14,45,46). When immobilized on the TiO 2 layer, the peak shifted to about 450 nm and broadened significantly (Figure ‫ۑ2‬ II ).…”

“…When immobilized on the TiO 2 layer, the peak shifted to about 450 nm and broadened significantly (Figure ‫ۑ2‬ II ). As the absorption spectrum of nanoparticles is greatly influenced by the surrounding environment, this shift is rather due to the change from colloidal solution to dry solid state than to a change in the size of the nanoparticles (14,45,46). The mean average thickness of the TiO 2 layers was 7.3 ± 0.8 μm.…”

“…In case of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with more than 100 nm in diameter, the extinction is dominated by light scattering. This phenomenon can be applied as antireflection or light trapping material for silicon based solar cells (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16). In case of smaller AgNPs, the extinction is dominated by light absorption, which leads to near-field light with a strong localized electromagnetic field.…”

Modeling of plasmonic properties of nanostructures for next generation solar cells and beyond

“…Already first DSSCs with Ag NPs modified with polyacrylate-based comb-shaped block copolymer showed improved photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.5%, compared with about 1.5% for a DSSC without Ag NPs [5]. In the following years, plasmonic solar cells have been extensively researched and efficiency improvements shown in different types of cells beyond DSSC were reported [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]: plasmonic solid semiconductor solar cells [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38], plasmonic organic solar cells [39][40][41][42][43][44][45], plasmonic perovskite solar cells [46][47][4...…”

Immobilization of Silver Nanoparticles by Peptide Nucleic Acids in Surface Plasmon Enhanced Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

“…10 The scattering effect can be applied as anti-reflection or light-trapping material for silicon-based solar cells. 11,12 Our concept is to use the optical near-field to enhance the photoabsorption of dye molecules and thus the generation of photoelectrons in DSSCs.…”