Enhancement of optical absorption in silicon thin-film solar cells with metal nanoparticles

摘要

Light trapping structures are a promising method of improving the efficiency of solar cells. We focused on the plasmonic thin-film solar cell. A structure is proposed consisting of an indium tin oxide layer with embedded metal nanoparticles, a hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layer, and an aluminum (Al) layer. The finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) method was used to calculate the absorption characteristics of the a-Si:H thin-film solar cells containing nanoparticles. By arranging the material, size, and locations of metal nanoparticles to maximize the scattering and minimize absorption of nanoparticles themselves, the optical absorption in the solar cell is significantly enhanced.