Hetero-structured lumpy nanoparticle conformal structure for high absorbance of ultrathin film amorphous silicon solar cells

Abstract

We present a concept for enhancing the absorbance of amorphous-silicon solar cells by using hetero-structured nanoparticles consisting of dielectric core particles combined with small metallic surface nanoparticles half embedded in the core to harness both the scattering effect and the near field light concentration. Through optimising key parameters, including the relative distance of the nanoparticles to the solar cell, the radius ratio of the core to the surface nanoparticles, and the refractive index of the core particles, the short circuit current density in a 20 nm nanoparticle-integrated active layer is equivalent to that in a 300 nm flat active layer.