Plasmonic effects of ultra-thin Mo films on hydrogenated amorphous Si photovoltaic cells

Lombardo, S.; Tringali, Cristina; Cannella, G.; Battaglia, A.; Foti, Marina; Costa, N.; Principato, F.; Gerardi, C.

doi:10.1063/1.4753936

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…To test such concept we have performed reverse bias stress experiments in samples in which the TCO layer in contact with the p-type a-Si: H film has been replaced by a Mo film, in cells realized as described in the previous section. The use of Mo can give some advantage for the p-type a-Si:H/metal contact resistance and for the solar cell carrier lifetime (compared to FTO) [10,11], and it may be advantageous to fabricate a-Si:H solar cells on flexible substrates [12], and to realise plasmonic light trapping [21]. Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of electric field and electrode material on the improvement of the ageing effects in hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cells

Scuto

Valenti

Pierro

et al. 2015

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of electric field and electrode material on the improvement of the ageing effects in hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cells

Scuto

Valenti

Pierro

et al. 2015

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…This implies that in the case of Mo, the SPP modes at the metal amorphous/silicon (A-Si:H) interface are at wavelengths higher than ≈500 nm, respectively. This results in a longer SPP lateral propagation, and therefore the SPP waves can reach the side contacts of the structure without undergoing excessive attenuation [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ].…”

Section: Basics Of Spps Propagation and Problem Formulation For A Mul...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Multilayer Plasmonic Nanostructures for Improved Sensing Activities Using a FEM and Neurocomputing-Based Approach

Sciuto

Napoli

Kowol

et al. 2022

Sensors

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In order to obtain optimized elementary devices (photovoltaic modules, power transistors for energy efficiency, high-efficiency sensors) it is necessary to increase the energy conversion efficiency of these devices. A very effective approach to achieving this goal is to increase the absorption of incident radiation. A promising strategy to increase this absorption is to use very thin regions of active material and trap photons near these surfaces. The most effective and cost-effective method of achieving such optical entrapment is the Raman scattering from excited nanoparticles at the plasmonic resonance. The field of plasmonics is the study of the exploitation of appropriate layers of metal nanoparticles to increase the intensity of radiation in the semiconductor by means of near-field effects produced by nanoparticles. In this paper, we focus on the use of metal nanoparticles as plasmonic nanosensors with extremely high sensitivity, even reaching single-molecule detection. The study conducted in this paper was used to optimize the performance of a prototype of a plasmonic photovoltaic cell made at the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems IMM of Catania, Italy. This prototype was based on a multilayer structure composed of the following layers: glass, AZO, metal and dielectric. In order to obtain good results, it is necessary to use geometries that orthogonalize the absorption of light, allowing better transport of the photocarriers—and therefore greater efficiency—or the use of less pure materials. For this reason, this study is focused on optimizing the geometries of these multilayer plasmonic structures. More specifically, in this paper, by means of a neurocomputing procedure and an electromagnetic fields analysis performed by the finite elements method (FEM), we established the relationship between the thicknesses of Aluminum-doped Zinc oxide (AZO), metal, dielectric and their main properties, characterizing the plasmonic propagation phenomena as the optimal wavelengths values at the main interfaces AZO/METAL and METAL/DIELECTRIC.

show abstract

“…We have demonstrated that the barrier height at the interface between Mo/p-type a-Si:H is 20 meV lower than that of SnO 2 :F/p-type a-Si:H and that the V oc of the Mo solar cell is 100 mV greater than that obtained with SnO 2 :F as front contact (Foti et al, 2011). Moreover, in Lombardo et al (2012) we have shown that the addition of an ultra-thin molybdenum film between the p-type a-Si:H film and the TCO/glass substrate in p-i-n a-Si:H solar cells causes an improvement of 10% in the internal quantum efficiency, due to the excitation of surface plasmon polariton modes at the a-Si:H/Mo interface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Comparison between textured SnO2:F and Mo contacts with the p-type layer in p–i–n hydrogenate amorphous silicon solar cells by forward bias impedance analysis

et al. 2013

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this paper we compare the performance of the textured SnO 2 :F and Mo contacts with the p-type layer in p-in hydrogenate amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells. We use standard current-voltage (I-V) electrical characterization methods coupled with forward bias small signal impedance analysis. We show the efficacy of this technique to determine the effective carrier lifetime in photovoltaic cells. We show that such effective lifetimes are indeed directly connected to the respective dark diode saturation currents. We also find that the effective lifetime is constant with the temperature in the 0-70°C range and it is significantly better for the solar cell with Mo diode contact. This also explains well the higher open circuit voltage V oc found under illumination in the Mo/p-in cell compared to the SnO 2 :F/pi-n one.

show abstract

Plasmonic effects of ultra-thin Mo films on hydrogenated amorphous Si photovoltaic cells

Cited by 7 publications

References 19 publications

Role of electric field and electrode material on the improvement of the ageing effects in hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cells

Role of electric field and electrode material on the improvement of the ageing effects in hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cells

Multilayer Plasmonic Nanostructures for Improved Sensing Activities Using a FEM and Neurocomputing-Based Approach

Comparison between textured SnO2:F and Mo contacts with the p-type layer in p–i–n hydrogenate amorphous silicon solar cells by forward bias impedance analysis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About