Surface plasmon enhanced organic solar cell with different silver nanosphere sizes.
We have systematically investigated the plasmonic effects on the characteristics of OPV devices of a blend of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as well as of blend of polymer poly[2,1,3-benzothiadiazole-4,7-diyl[4,4-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-cyclopenta [2,1-b:3,4 b']dithioph-ene-2,6-diyl]] (PCPDTBT) and PCBM with an incorporated thin silver (Ag) film. Silver nanospheres (NSs) were introduced through a solution casting process to improve the performance of bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells. The Ag NSs with variable sizes were investigated, with the aim of optimizing the performance of devices. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) increases by a maximum 14% for the 40 nm Ag NSs. The larger-sized Ag NSs used in this study led to a larger enhancement of short circuit current JSC and PCE. Analysis of the changes in electronic performance leads to the conclusion that the plasmonic light trapping scheme improves the performance of OPV devices. This is caused by the increases of both fill factor and JSC, whilst open circuit voltage VOC remains relatively constant. These enhancements are mainly due to the localized surface plasmon resonance and light scattering of metal nanoparticles, which increase the light absorption of active layer and improve the exciton generation and dissociation.
Ashraf
A
Uddin
Xiaohan
X
Yang
D053768:Metal Nanoparticles; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D010316:Particle Size; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D012993:Solar Energy; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance
D012834:Silver