DIRECTING THE ABSORPTION PEAKS OF PLASMOINC SOLAR CELL

Abstract

In this paper, a plasmonic solar cell using silver nanoparticles is presented. The unit cell structure composes of two layers, each containing a silver nanoparticle deposited on the absorber layer and covered with an indium tin oxide layer. Nanoparticle structure has been used for light-trapping to increase the absorption of plasmonic solar cells. By various light trapping techniques, light can be concentrated in a thin absorber layer. As it will be clarified, through varying the geometry of these nanoparticle structures, the absorption peaks can be directed. All simulation data are obtained using the finite element method. The proposed model achieves two absorption peaks existing at 1.07 μm and 1.17 μm, each with absorptions of around 50%. The parameters of optimized performance have been specified. The results indicate that this model shows an absorption full width at half maximum, reaching 122 nm. Moreover, it can be noticed that the absorption peak can be increased to reach 0.5. The proposed structure has potential applications in the absorption of the infra-red part of the solar spectrum.