PLASMONIC PHOTOVOLTAICS: PHOTOCURRENT ENHANCEMENT BY METAL NANOPARTICLES ON SOLAR CELL INTERFACE

摘要

Two different ways to enhance the efficiency of surface-barrier solar cell, using metal nanoparticles incorporated into interface, have been analyzed theoretically in this paper: i) increase of light absorption in semiconductor due to scattering on the nanoparticles, and ii) additional photocurrent generation by the near-field of surface plasmon excited. First task have been solved on the base of modified differential formalism method for Maxwell's equations, when the boundary conditions simplified by introduction of the curvilinear non-orthogonal coordinates. The second one solves phenomenologically by using diffusion-diode theory, when the near-field generation is included in the boundary conditions for minority carriers flux. Numerical results have been obtained for semiconductors GaAs and Si with Au nanoparticles on the interface with metal or other high conductive layer (ITO, FTO etc.).