Efficiency enhancement of surface barrier solar cells due to excitation of surface plasmon polaritons

Abstract

The process of excitation of surface plasmon polaritons in periodically corrugated metal or heavily doped semiconductor film (emitter) in heterostructure solar cells has been investigated theoretically. This process leads to the essential increase of light transmission into the photoactive semiconductor base. As a result, the efficiency enhancement of a surface barrier heterostructure of metal–semiconductor type, η∝JSC ⋅ VOC, has been predicted. Besides, the internal quantum efficiency Qi(λ) has been calculated in the 1D model and the influence of both surface recombination velocity and the rate of major carriers emission into the emitter has been analyzed. The latter leads to some decrease of the open-circuit voltage VOC. However, due to the enhancement of light transmittance into the absorptive layer of the surface barrier heterostructure in the case of anticorrelated relief, the short-circuit current JSC can be increased up to twice. Therefore, the increase in the solar cell efficiency η due to excitation of surface plasmon polaritons in a corrugated front metal film has been predicted.