Light absorption enhancement of ∼100 nm thick poly(3-hexylthiophene) thin-film by embedding silver nanoparticles

Abstract

In this work, we experimentally and numerically investigate the field enhancement and light absorption enhancement in poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) thin-film by embedding silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). Experimental results show that light absorption of ∼100 nm thick P3HT thin-film is enhanced by embedding Ag NPs of diameter 20 ∼ 50 nm in the film. Numerical simulations show that by embedding coupled silver nanospheres (Ag NSs) of diameter 20–40 nm into P3HT, the region of field enhancement can be extended about 100 nm towards the incident light source, due to the interference between the incident field and the scattered field of the coupled Ag NSs. The long-distance field enhancement effect of large-sized Ag NPs can be used to improve the efficiency of organic thin-film solar cell devices.