Plasmonic Scattering and Coupling Effects of Indium Nanoparticles Sheets Embedded in SiO2 AR-Coating on Performance Enhancement of Silicon Solar Cells

Abstract

In this work, performances of silicon solar cells enhancing by plasmonic scattering and coupling of two-dimensional (2-D) indium nanoparticles (In-NPs) sheets (1-3 layers) embedded in SiO2 antireflective coating (ARC) were demonstrated. Raman and absorbance measurements were examined the plasmonic scattering and coupling effects of 2-D In-NPs sheets embedded in SiO2 layer. Optical reflectance and external quantum efficiency were used to characterize the benefit of plasmonic ARC due to with 2-D In-NPs sheets embedded in SiO2. Photovoltaic current density-voltage measurements under AM 1.5G illumination were used to confirm the enhancement of short-circuit current density and conversion efficiency of the silicon solar cells coated with plasmonic ARC which was depended on In-NPs sheets number. Impressive efficiency enhancements of 39.57%, 38.59%, 34.27% for the cells with 3-, 2-, 1-In NPs sheets embedded in SiO2 layer and of 27.13% for the cell with a SiO2 layer without In-NPs sheet were obtained, respectively, compared to the reference cell.