Nanostructured plasmonics silicon solar cells

Abstract

We report a plasmonics silicon solar cell design, with the possibility of lower cost and higher efficiency. The proposed solar cell consists of a radial p–n junction silicon nanopillar arrays in combination with metallic nanoparticles resolved at the top of the nanopillars. Relatively simple processing methods such as metal assisted electroless chemical etching and spin-on doping techniques are used for the fabrication of the described devices. Prior to the metallic nanoparticle incorporation, the power conversion efficiency of the solar cell with nanopillar arrays with a height of 800 nm was measured to be 10.7%. Subsequently, the optical and electrical performance of the aforementioned topography was studied as a function of nanopillar height. The observations indicate that the electrical performance of the produced devices degrades with increases in nanopillar height beyond 800 nm, however, the optical performance measurements did exhibit the opposite trend. Upon the incorporation of metallic nanoparticles to the previously fabricated nanopillar arrays, the power conversation efficiency of the combined structure was observed to decrease to 7.31%. This can be attributed due to a reduced open circuit voltage in spite of having a higher fill factor.