Fabrication of solid-state plasmonic solar cell device using FTO|TiO2|Ag-nanoparticle assembly to generate hot electrons surpassing Schottky barrier

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This work presents a detailed investigation into the fabrication and performance evaluation of plasmonic solar cells, where a thin film of silver nanoparticles is deposited onto a TiO₂ layer, with the silver film itself functioning as the active layer for light absorption and energy conversion. The study compares two deposition techniques—DC Magnetron Sputtering and Thermal Vapor Deposition (TVD)—revealing significant differences in the resulting device performance. The device fabricated using TVD demonstrated a significantly higher open circuit voltage of 440.3 mV and short circuit current density of 1.6 mA/cm² compared to the device fabricated via DC Magnetron Sputtering, which recorded an open circuit voltage of 56.92 mV and a short circuit current density of 0.03 mA/cm². These results indicate that TVD offers superior electron-hole separation, reduced recombination losses, and enhanced light absorption efficiency. The main contribution of this work lies in demonstrating that the TVD technique significantly improves the photovoltaic performance of plasmonic solar cells compared to DC Magnetron Sputtering. The study validates the hot-electron mechanism at the TiO2|Ag junction using Kelvin probe force microscopy, contributing valuable insights into the role of plasmonic effects in enhancing solar cell efficiency. Additionally, it underscores the potential of TVD for developing advanced solar cell technologies with higher energy conversion efficiency.