TY - CONF

T1 - Absorption enhancement in metal nanoparticles for photoemission current for solar cells

A1 - Gritti,Claudia

A1 - Novitsky,Andrey

A1 - Malureanu,Radu

A1 - Lavrinenko,Andrei

A1 - Uskov,A.

A1 - Kardynal,Beata

AU - Gritti,Claudia

AU - Novitsky,Andrey

AU - Malureanu,Radu

AU - Lavrinenko,Andrei

AU - Uskov,A.

AU - Kardynal,Beata

PB - S P I E - International Society for Optical Engineering

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - In order to improve the photoconversion efficiency, we consider the possibility of increasing the photocurrent in solar cells exploiting the electron photoemission from small metal nanoparticles into a semiconductor. The effect is caused by the absorption of photons and generation of local surface plasmons in the nanoparticles with optimized geometry. An electron photoemission from metal into semiconductor occurs if photon energy is larger than Schottky barrier at the metal-semiconductor interface. The photocurrent resulting from the absorption of photons with energy below the bandgap of the semiconductor added to the solar cell photocurrent can extend spectral response range of the device. We study the effect on a model system, which is a Schottky barrier n-GaAs solar cell, with an array of Au nanoparticles positioned at the interface between the semiconductor and the transparent top electrode. Based on the simulations, we chose to study disk-shaped Au nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 25nm to 50nm using electron beam lithography. Optical characterization of the fabricated devices shows the presence of LSP resonance around the wavelength of 1250nm, below the bandgap of GaAs.

AB - In order to improve the photoconversion efficiency, we consider the possibility of increasing the photocurrent in solar cells exploiting the electron photoemission from small metal nanoparticles into a semiconductor. The effect is caused by the absorption of photons and generation of local surface plasmons in the nanoparticles with optimized geometry. An electron photoemission from metal into semiconductor occurs if photon energy is larger than Schottky barrier at the metal-semiconductor interface. The photocurrent resulting from the absorption of photons with energy below the bandgap of the semiconductor added to the solar cell photocurrent can extend spectral response range of the device. We study the effect on a model system, which is a Schottky barrier n-GaAs solar cell, with an array of Au nanoparticles positioned at the interface between the semiconductor and the transparent top electrode. Based on the simulations, we chose to study disk-shaped Au nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 25nm to 50nm using electron beam lithography. Optical characterization of the fabricated devices shows the presence of LSP resonance around the wavelength of 1250nm, below the bandgap of GaAs.

KW - Gold nanoparticles

KW - Photovoltaics

KW - Surface plasmons

KW - Schottky diode

KW - Transmission

KW - Electron beam lithography

KW - PMMA

U2 - 10.1117/12.922445

DO - 10.1117/12.922445

JO - Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering

JF - Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering

SN - 1605-7422

IS - 1

VL - 8438

SP - 84380K

ER -