Open AccessBroadband short-range surface plasmon structures for absorption enhancement in organic photovoltaics
Author(s) -
Wei Bai,
Qiaoqiang Gan,
Guofeng Song,
Lianghui Chen,
Zakya H. Kafafi,
F. J. Bartoli
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.18.00a620
Subject(s) - materials science , photovoltaics , surface plasmon polariton , organic solar cell , surface plasmon , optoelectronics , plasmon , absorption (acoustics) , polarization (electrochemistry) , optics , plasmonic solar cell , solar cell , photoactive layer , polymer solar cell , photovoltaic system , polymer , chemistry , ecology , physics , composite material , biology
We theoretically demonstrate a polarization-independent nanopatterned ultra-thin metallic structure supporting short-range surface plasmon polariton (SRSPP) modes to improve the performance of organic solar cells. The physical mechanism and the mode distribution of the SRSPP excited in the cell device were analyzed, and reveal that the SRSPP-assisted broadband absorption enhancement peak could be tuned by tailoring the parameters of the nanopatterned metallic structure. Three-dimensional finite-difference time domain calculations show that this plasmonic structure can enhance the optical absorption of polymer-based photovoltaics by 39% to 112%, depending on the nature of the active layer (corresponding to an enhancement in short-circuit current density by 47% to 130%). These results are promising for the design of organic photovoltaics with enhanced performance.