Enhanced absorption in Au nanoparticles/a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells exploiting Au surface plasmon resonance

Au nanoparticles (NPs)/(n-type)a-Si:H/(p-type)c-Si heterojunctions have been deposited combining plasma-enhanced chemical-vapour deposition (PECVD) with Au sputtering. We demonstrate that a density of ∼1.3×1011 cm−2 of Au nanoparticles with an approximately 20 nm diameter deposited onto (n-type)a-Si:H/(p-type)c-Si heterojunctions enhance performance exploiting the improved absorption of light by the surface plasmon resonance of Au NPs. In particular, Au NPs/(n-type)a-Si:H/(p-type)c-Si show an enhancement of 20% in the short-circuit current, JSC, 25% in the power output, Pmax and 3% in the fill factor, FF, compared to heterojunctions without Au NPs. Structures have been characterized by spectroscopic ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy and current–voltage (I–V) measurements to correlate the plasmon resonance-induced enhanced absorption of light with photovoltaic performance.