title: Diffuse scattering from hemispherical nanoparticles at the air-silicon interface.
abstract: There has been much recent interest in the application of plasmonics to improve the efficiency of silicon solar cells. In this paper we use finite difference time domain calculations to investigate the placement of hemispherical gold nanoparticles on the rear surface of a silicon solar cell. The results indicate that nanoparticles protruding into the silicon, rather than into air, have a larger scattering efficiency and diffuse scattering into the semiconductor. This finding could lead to improved light trapping within a thin silicon solar cell device.
authors.affiliation: Malaysia Japan International Institute of Technology, University Technology Malaysia, KL Campus, 54100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Department of Materials, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Centeno
authors.forename: Badar
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Haricharan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Reehal
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xie