Plasmonics modulation of Si solar cell with a matrix silver nanoparticles pattern surrounded by indium nanoparticles

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the fabrication of plasmonic silicon (Si) solar cells with a matrix comprising a pattern of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) surrounded by indium nanoparticles (In-NPs). We examined the plasmonic-modulated light scattering induced by Ag-NPs/In-NPs matrices with various degrees of coverage using optical as well as electrical measurements. The Raman scattering of In-NPs and Ag-NPs was characterized using a semiconductor laser at a wavelength of 532nm and output power of 0.36W. We also measured the optical reflectance and external quantum efficiency response of various solar cells. We achieved impressive results with regard to plasmonic-modulated light scattering through the implementation of a matrix that included Ag-NP coverage of 20% and In-NP coverage of 80% over an area of 4×4mm2. This resulted in a 9.93% increase in short-circuit current density (from 31.91mA/cm2 to 35.08mA/cm2) and a 10.12% increase in conversion efficiency (from 13.04% to 14.36%), compared to cells with uniformly distributed Ag-NPs.