Plasmonic enhancement of light to improve the parameters of solar cells

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) can be generated in metal nanostructures such as gold, silver, copper and aluminium, which are promising materials in the fields of optoelectronics and plasmonics. The SPR in periodic arrays has aroused great interest because of its uniform optical properties which can be applied in integrated optoelectronics device, including solar cells (SC). The optical spectra of structures with Ag nanoparticles on the surface of Si wafer were calculated. The simulation was carried out using finite-difference time-domain method (FDTD). The FDTD method is a powerful numerical algorithm for the direct solution of Maxwell's equations. As a source of radiation, a plane wave with a range of wavelengths 300–1240 nm is used. The enhancement of solar light absorption of structures with Ag nanoparticles has been demonstrated. The Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance peaks have been obtained in the wavelength range of 830–865 nm that is in good agreement with experimentally revealed one. It was shown that the period of Ag nanoparticles replacement significantly influences on the spectra and LSPR peak position. The measurement of current–voltage characteristics of solar cells with and without Ag nanoparticles demonstrated significant enhancement of short current density in case of AgNPs on SCs surface.