Plasmonics and photovolatics on the cheap

Summary form only given. Plasmonic nanostructures can increase photon capture and lead to enhancement of photocurrent in photovoltaic (PV) cells. This has special implications for Si absorber layers much thinner than 10 μm, when optical absorption of near-bandgap light is reduced and current light trapping schemes, such as surface texturing, may be a poor candidate. There has been an increasing amount of work in the field over the past few years. Here, we discuss how plasmonics can help reduce the material requirements in PV and report on plasmon enhanced absorption in thin films and PV cells using Ag nanoparticle arrays. The design represents a fully optimized condition where the amount of light incident on the cell, absorbed by the nanoparticles, and reradiated into the c-Si absorber layer, is maximized. As a result of increased photon capture in the cell, we observe an increase in photocurrent density and solar conversion efficiency. This talk will examine various aspects of absorption and scattering with isolated metallic nanoparticles and with coupled nanoparticles. Fabrication and economic considerations will also be presented.