2017-Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit
SIPS 2017 Volume 6. Mathematics, Multiscale Mechanics, Coatings
| Editors: | Kongoli F, Masset P, Rokicki P |
| Publisher: | Flogen Star OUTREACH |
| Publication Year: | 2017 |
| Pages: | 142 pages |
| ISBN: | 978-1-987820-71-3 |
| ISSN: | 2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series) |
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Enhancing Absorption of Solar Cell Thin-film Materials by Excitation of Plasmon Resonances in Noble-metal Nanoparticles; Example of Perovskites
Krystyna Kolwas1; Anastasiya Derkachova1;1INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS, POLISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, Warsaw, Poland;
Type of Paper: Regular
Id Paper: 260
Topic: 19
Abstract:
In the past few years, the photovoltaic field has experienced an extremely dynamic increase due to the development of perovskite-based photovoltaic devices that are expected to be the next generation solar cells due to relatively high power conversion efficiencies, long carrier lifetimes, and a significant defect tolerance for solution-processed polycrystalline films. However, absorption by perovskites (as well as by other photovoltaic materials) of solar radiation at longer wavelengths is not optimal.
An admixture of metal nanoparticles and excitation of localized surface plasmons in these nanoparticles could establish a new route for an improvement of the performance of such devices. Excitations of plasmons give rise to a variety of effects tuned by their size and shape which result in strong electromagnetic field concentration and enhancement that occurs in the vicinity of the metal surface. The strong interaction of such nanoparticles with light makes them efficient receiving or/and scattering optical nanoantennas. Using the tools of electrodynamics, we predict a strong red-shift in the spectral activity of gold and silver nanospheres and modification (negative or positive) of white and solar light harvesting in the film of perovskite host caused by centrally distributed plasmonic nanospheres. The enhancement of absorption in perovskite host is proven to be possible for photons with energies close to or smaller than the energy bandgap in perovskite, with the final effect depending on the diameter of nanospheres, their concentration, and kind of metal. From the electronic band structure point of view, the predicted strengthening of absorption can be interpreted as the effect of semiconductor doping with metals resulting in increased photocurrent.
We introduced several measures of absorption modification, which account for the gain and depletion of absorption in the host (perovskite thin film) versus nanoparticles size. The model can be applied to any film of absorbing materials containing any optically uncoupled, centrally distributed nanospheres.
The most important finding is the predicted reinforcement of light harvesting in the perovskite host in the long wavelength spectral range, where, when undoped, it cannot absorb radiation. The reinforcement effect depends on the diameter of nanospheres, their concentration, and kind of metal.
The predicted enhancement of light harvesting by incorporation of metal nanoparticles can be understood as the effect of semiconductor doping, which results in a behavior more similar to a conductor�s one with all consequences for the new allowed energy levels (bands) and boosting photocurrent. The predicted enhancement of light harvesting by incorporation of metal nanoparticles can be understood as the effect of semiconductor doping, which results in a behavior more similar to a conductor�s one with all consequences for the new allowed energy levels (bands) and boosting photocurrent. Our modeling opens the new way in understanding and predicting the enhancement of solar conversion efficiency in photovoltaic materials.