Open AccessPlasmonic effects in ultrathin amorphous silicon solar cells: performance improvements with Ag nanoparticles on the front, the back, and both
Author(s) -
Joshua D. Winans,
Chanse Hungerford,
Krishanu Shome,
Lewis J. Rothberg,
Philippe M. Fauchet
Publication year - 2015
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.23.000a92
Subject(s) - materials science , plasmon , silicon , silver nanoparticle , plasmonic solar cell , amorphous silicon , nanoparticle , optoelectronics , amorphous solid , optics , nanotechnology , quantum efficiency , solar cell , front (military) , crystalline silicon , monocrystalline silicon , mechanical engineering , chemistry , physics , organic chemistry , engineering
Thin-film hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells that are free-standing over a 2x2 mm area have been fabricated with thicknesses of 150 nm, 100 nm, and 60 nm. Silver nanoparticles (NPs) created on the front and/or back surfaces of the solar cells led to improvement in performance measures such as current density, overall efficiency, and external quantum efficiency. The effect of changing silver nanoparticle size and incident light angle was tested. Finite-Difference Time-Domain simulations are presented as a way to understand the experimental results as well as guide future research efforts.