Plasmon-Enhanced Sunlight Harvesting in Thin-Film Solar Cell by Randomly Distributed Nanoparticle Array

• Main Authors: Marwa M. Tharwat, Ashwag Almalki, Amr M. Mahros
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
• Series: Materials
• Subjects: FDTD; plasmonics; optical absorption
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/14/6/1380

In this paper, a randomly distributed plasmonic aluminum nanoparticle array is introduced on the top surface of conventional GaAs thin-film solar cells to improve sunlight harvesting. The performance of such photovoltaic structures is determined through monitoring the modification of its absorbance due to changing its structural parameters. A single Al nanoparticle array is integrated over the antireflective layer to boost the absorption spectra in both visible and near-infra-red regimes. Furthermore, the planar density of the plasmonic layer is presented as a crucial parameter in studying and investigating the performance of the solar cells. Then, we have introduced a double Al nanoparticle array as an imperfection from the regular uniform single array as it has different size particles and various spatial distributions. The comparison of performances was established using the enhancement percentage in the absorption. The findings illustrate that the structural parameters of the reported solar cell, especially the planar density of the plasmonic layer, have significant impacts on tuning solar energy harvesting. Additionally, increasing the plasmonic planar density enhances the absorption in the visible region. On the other hand, the absorption in the near-infrared regime becomes worse, and vice versa.