Performance of plasmonic silicon solar cells using indium nanoparticles deposited on a patterned TiO2 matrix

A considerable enhancement in the photovoltaic performance of plasmonic silicon solar cells using indium-nanoparticles on a patterned TiO2 matrix was demonstrated experimentally. For characterizing the optical properties of the patterned TiO2 matrix with and without indium nanoparticles, the indium nanoparticles were deposited on the reference samples with 30- and 59.5-nm thick TiO2 layers and on the test samples with a patterned TiO2 matrix of 30-and 59.5-nm thick profiles. The optical reflectance of all samples before and after depositing indium nanoparticles on the TiO2 layer was measured. To study plasmonics and anti-reflective effects on solar cells, the cells with indium nanoparticles on a patterned TiO2 matrix with a profile coverage levels of 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80% were characterized. The photovoltaic performance under one-sun AM 1.5 G illumination and the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the cells were measured and compared. Compared to a bare cell, the plasmonic cell with a patterned TiO2 matrix of 40% profile coverage had a short-circuit current density (J(sc)) enhancement of 30.98% (from 23.53 mA/cm(2) to 30.82 mA/cm(2)) and a conversion efficiency (eta) enhancement of 34.06% (from 9.63% to 12.91%). The improvements may be attributed to the combination of the reduction of reflection and the plasmonic scattering of incident-light by indium-nanoparticles on the patterned TiO2 matrix. (C) 2014 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.