Search results for " localized surface plasmon resonance"

Direct measurement of optical losses in plasmon-enhanced thin silicon films (Conference Presentation)

2018

Plasmon-enhanced absorption, often considered as a promising solution for efficient light trapping in thin film silicon solar cells, suffers from pronounced optical losses i.e. parasitic absorption, which do not contribute to the obtainable photocurrent. Direct measurements of such losses are therefore essential to optimize the design of plasmonic nanostructures and supporting layers. Importantly, contributions of useful and parasitic absorption cannot be measured separately with commonly used optical spectrophotometry. In this study we apply a novel strategy consisting in a combination of photocurrent and photothermal spectroscopic techniques to experimentally quantify the trade-off betwee…

Light trapping by plasmonic nanoparticles

2020

Abstract Metallic nanoparticles sustaining localized surface plasmon resonances are of great interest for enhancing light trapping in thin film photovoltaics. In this chapter, we explore the correlation between the structural and optical properties of self-assembled silver nanostructures fabricated by a solid-state dewetting process on various substrates relevant for silicon photovoltaics and later integrated into plasmonic back reflectors. Our study allows us to optimize the performance of nanostructures by identifying the fabrication conditions in which desirable circular and uniformly spaced nanoparticles are obtained. Second, we introduce a novel optoelectronic spectroscopic method that…

Plasmonic nanostructures for light trapping in photovoltaic

Metallic nanoparticles (NPs), sustaining localized surface plasmon resonances, are currently of great interest for enhancing light trapping in thin film solar cells. To be directly applicable in the photovoltaic industry, the NPs fabrication needs to be simple, reliable, low-cost and scalable. As such, self-assembly processes are most commonly used, and Ag is the preferred material, due to its high radiative efficiency and low imaginary permittivity⁠. After exploring the correlation between structural and optical properties of Ag NPs fabricated by solid- state dewetting process on various substrates, we identified the fabrication conditions in which desirable NPs are obtained, but we also e…

Quantifying the trade-off between useful and parasitic absorption of light for plasmonic light trapping in thin silicon films

2016

We apply a combination of photocurrent and photothermal spectroscopic techniques to experimentally quantify the trade-off between useful and parasitic absorption of light in thin hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (?c-Si:H) films incorporating self-assembled silver nanoparticle arrays, located at the rear side, for improved light trapping via resonant plasmonic scattering. The photothermal technique is used to measure the total absorptance while the photocurrent spectroscopy accounts only for the photons absorbed in the ?c-Si:H layer (useful absorptance); therefore, the method allows for independent quantification of the useful and parasitic absorptance of the plasmonic (or any other) li…