creators_name: Nakayama, Keisuke
creators_name: Tanabe, Katsuaki
creators_name: Atwater, Harry A.
creators_id: Nakayama-K
creators_id: Tanabe-K
creators_id: Atwater-H-A
type: article
datestamp: 2008-09-29 23:29:42
lastmod: 2008-09-29 23:29:42
metadata_visibility: show
title: Plasmonic nanoparticle enhanced light absorption in GaAs solar cells
ispublished: pub
subjects: cls
full_text_status: public
keywords: current density, gallium arsenide, III-V semiconductors, nanoparticles, nanotechnology, short-circuit currents, solar cells, surface plasmons, surface resistance
note: ©2008 American Institute of Physics. 

Received 24 July 2008; accepted 31 August 2008; published 22 September 2008. 

This work was supported by the Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences under Grant No. DE-FG02-07ER46405, and Nippon Oil Corporation. We also acknowledge support from the Center for Science and Engineering of Materials (CSEM), a NSF Material Research Science and Engineering Center at Caltech, for facilities use.
abstract: We demonstrate an improvement in efficiency of optically thin GaAs solar cells decorated with size-controlled Ag nanoparticles fabricated by masked deposition through anodic aluminum oxide templates. The strong scattering by the interacting surface plasmons in densely formed high aspect-ratio nanoparticles effectively increases the optical path of the incident light in the absorber layers resulting in an 8% increase in the short circuit current density of the cell. The nanoparticle array sheet conductivity also reduces the cell surface sheet resistance evidenced by an improved fill factor. This dual function of plasmonic nanoparticles has potential to enable thinner photovoltaic layers in solar cells.
date: 2008-09-22
date_type: published
publication: Applied Physics Letters
volume: 93
number: 12
publisher: American Institute of Physics
pagerange: Art. No. 121904
id_number: CaltechAUTHORS:NAKapl08
refereed: TRUE
issn: 0003-6951
official_url: http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:NAKapl08
related_url_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2988288
related_url_url: http://link.aip.org/link/?APPLAB/93/121904/1
related_url_type: doi
related_url_type: pub
referencetext: 1. H. R. Stuart and D. G. Hall, Appl. Phys. Lett. 69, 2327 (1996).   
2. H. R. Stuart and D. G. Hall, Appl. Phys. Lett. 73, 3815 (1998).  
3. D. M. Schaadt, B. Feng, and E. T. Yu, Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 063106 (2005).  
4. S. Pillai, K. R. Catchpole, T. Trupke, and M. A. Green, J. Appl. Phys. 101, 093105 (2007).   
5. B. P. Rand, P. Peumans, and S. R. Forrest, J. Appl. Phys. 96, 7519 (2004).  
6. C. F. Bohren and D. R. Huffman, Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles (Wiley, New York, 1983).  
7. H. Masuda and M. Satoh, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., Part 2 35, L126 (1996).  
8. K. Tanabe, K. Nakayama, and H. A. Atwater (unpublished).  
9. K. Nakayama, K. Tanabe, and H. A. Atwater, Proc. SPIE 7047, 704708 (2008).  
10. S. Ono, M. Saito, and H. Asoh, Electrochim. Acta 51, 827 (2005).  
11. P. Royer, J. P. Goudonnet, R. J. Warmack, and T. L. Ferrell, Phys. Rev. B 35, 3753 (1987).   
12. G. Fuster, J. M. Tyler, N. E. Brener, J. Callaway, and D. Bagayoko, Phys. Rev. B 42, 7322 (1990).    
13. J. S. Biteen, N. S. Lewis, and H. A. Atwater, Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 131109 (2006).  
14. S. A. Maier and H. A. Atwater, J. Appl. Phys. 98, 011101 (2005).  
15. S. P. Tobin, S. M. Vernon, C. Bajgar, L. M. Geoffroy, C. J. Keavney, M. M. Sanfacon, and V. E. Haven, Sol. Cells 24, 103 (1988).   
16. D. E. Aspnes, S. M. Keiso, R. A. Logan, and R. Bhat, J. Appl. Phys. 60, 754 (1986).   
17. J.-H. Kim, D. H. Lim, and G. M. Yang, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 16, 558 (1998).
citation: Nakayama, Keisuke and Tanabe, Katsuaki and Atwater, Harry A. (2008) Plasmonic nanoparticle enhanced light absorption in GaAs solar cells. Applied Physics Letters, 93 (12). Art. No. 121904. ISSN 0003-6951 http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:NAKapl08 <http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:NAKapl08>
document_url: http://authors.library.caltech.edu/11799/1/NAKapl08.pdf