Perpustakaan Digital ITB

Plasmonic nanoparticles were once sought toharness enormous potential for light-trapping in inorganicthin-film photovoltaics. However, the incorporation of suchmetallic nanostructures nearsolar cell absorbing layerswithout inducing overall harm to performance has proven tobe a major obstacle. Herein, we demonstrate a solar celldesign which integrates a periodic array of plasmonic Agnanoparticles within the p-i-n structure of a-Ge:H ultrathinoptical cavity solar cells. The plasmonic solar cells showed a33% short-circuit current density increase relative to geo-metrically identical cells where the Ag nanoparticles were replaced by SiO2. We experimentally mapped the localized surfaceplasmon excitations on the surface of Ag nanoparticles embedded in the optoelectronic device using electron energy lossspectroscopy and correlated the results to the device performance. Using three-dimensional optical simulations, we furtherexplored the light-trapping mechanisms responsible for the observed performance enhancements. The nanostructured cellsproduced localized and tunable charge carrier generation enhancements while maintaining the planar geometry of the ultrathinabsorbing layer. Therefore, this design concept provides a direct and useful avenue for initial light-trapping efforts in next-generation photovoltaics based on ultrathin nanoabsorbers, such as few layer transition metal dichalcogenides.