Abstract
Recent research in the rapidly emerging field of plasmonics has shown the potential to significantly enhance light trapping inside thin-film solar cells by using metallic nanoparticles. In this article it is demonstrated the plasmon enhancement of optical absorption in amorphous silicon solar cells by using silver nanoparticles. Based on the analysis of the higher-order surface plasmon modes, it is shown how spectral positions of the surface plasmons affect the plasmonic enhancement of thin-film solar cells. By using the predictive 3D modeling, we investigate the effect of the higher-order modes on that enhancement. Finally, we suggest how to maximize the light trapping and optical absorption in the thin-film cell by optimizing the nanoparticle array parameters, which in turn can be used to fine tune the corresponding surface plasmon modes.
Highlights
At present, thin-film solar cells are considered as a main and low-cost alternative to conventional wafer-based cells
We present a systematic study on plasmon enhancement by high-order surface modes of the absorbed power in thin-film hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells
We have studied the plasmonic effect of silver nanoparticles deposited on the top surface of the thin-film hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cell on light trapping inside the photo-active layer
Summary
Thin-film solar cells are considered as a main and low-cost alternative to conventional wafer-based cells. It was shown that the enhanced performance of such cells is attributed to the improved optical absorption of thin-film photo-active layers [7] This more effective optical absorption is caused by scattering from the metallic nanoparticles [13], which strongly increases the light trapping within thin-film cells by coupling with waveguide modes of the active layer [14, 15]. Despite several experimental attempts to enhance the solar cell performance using very different nanoparticle materials, sizes, shapes, and surface coverages, there is still no systematic study on the optimum light trapping that can be achieved by proper adjustment of nanoparticle parameters. We present a systematic study on plasmon enhancement by high-order surface modes of the absorbed power in thin-film hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells. We perform an optimization study for the nanoparticle array parameters to achieve better optical enhancement and light trapping inside the amorphous silicon layer
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