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Photoconductivity and optical properties of silicon coated by thin TiO 2 film in situ doped by Au nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Töfflinger Jan Amaru,
Pedrueza Esteban,
Chirvony Vladimir,
Leendertz Caspar,
GarcíaCalzada Raúl,
Abargues Rafael,
Gref Orman,
Roczen Maurizio,
Korte Lars,
MartínezPastor Juan P.,
Rech Bernd
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
physica status solidi (a)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.532
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1862-6319
pISSN - 1862-6300
DOI - 10.1002/pssa.201200804
Subject(s) - materials science , photoconductivity , silicon , optoelectronics , anti reflective coating , substrate (aquarium) , nanoparticle , doping , layer (electronics) , charge carrier , solar cell , thin film , absorption (acoustics) , plasmonic solar cell , nanotechnology , monocrystalline silicon , composite material , oceanography , geology
Light trapping enhancement by plasmonic‐active metal nanoparticles (NPs) is believed to be a promising approach to increase silicon‐based solar cell efficiency. Therefore, we investigated TiO 2 films in situ doped by Au NPs (TiO 2 :AuNPs) deposited by spin coating on a silicon substrate. Photoconductivity and optical properties of the TiO 2 :AuNPs/Si structures were studied in comparison with those of TiO 2 /Si reference samples. We found that an introduction of the 40–50 nm diameter AuNPs into the antireflective TiO 2 layer deteriorates the antireflection properties and decreases the external yield of photogeneration of charge carriers. This is due to an increase of the layer reflection in the red‐IR part of the spectrum, and due to the parasitic absorption of light by AuNPs in the blue‐green part. Charge carrier recombination effect at the TiO 2 :AuNPs/Si interface is also found to decrease the external yield. We conclude that the TiO 2 :AuNPs layers could potentially be applied on the rear but not on the front side of Si solar cells.