Comparative Simulations of Conductive Nitrides as Alternative Plasmonic Nanostructures for Solar Cells

Christin David,Lejo Joseph Koduvelikulathu,Radovan Kopecek

doi:10.3390/en14144236

Christin David, Lejo Joseph Koduvelikulathu + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/en14144236

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Abstract

Particle layers employing conductive transition metal nitrides have been proposed as possible alternative plasmonic materials for photovoltaic applications due to their reduced losses compared to metal nanostructures. We critically compare the potential photocurrent gain from an additional layer made of nanopillars of nitrides with other material classes obtained in an optimized c-Si baseline solar cell, considering an experimental doping profile. A relative photocurrent gain enhancement of on average 5% to 10% is observed, achieving for a few scenarios around 30% gain. The local field enhancement is moderate around the resonances for nitrides which spread over the whole ultraviolet and visible range. We can characterize two types of nitrides: nitrides for which the shading effect remains a problem similar to for metals, and others which behave like dielectric scatterers with high photocurrent gain.

Highlights

Exploiting plasmonic effects for solar cells [1,2] has not led to the substantial improvement of photovoltaic (PV) technologies that the scientific community developing regenerative energy devices once believed
Particle layers employing conductive transition metal nitrides have been proposed as possible alternative plasmonic materials for photovoltaic applications due to their reduced losses compared to metal nanostructures
Conductive transition metal nitrides have been proposed as alternative plasmonic materials, allowing for resonant field enhancement effects while at the same time being less absorptive over a broad range of the spectrum [21,22,23]

Summary

Introduction

Exploiting plasmonic effects for solar cells [1,2] has not led to the substantial improvement of photovoltaic (PV) technologies that the scientific community developing regenerative energy devices once believed. Metal nanoparticles can yield high local fields close to the resonant oscillation of their free conduction band electrons, the plasmon excitation. This has, in particular, raised interest for plasmon-assisted enhancement of processes within the solar cell device [12], either via a direct increase in the charge carrier generation or indirectly through energy conversion effects such as photoluminescence [13,14] with either quantum dots [15] or embedded nanoparticles [16,17]. Fabrication processes and studies to integrate these materials for PV applications are in place [24]

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