Effect of Extended Extinction from Gold Nanopillar Arrays on the Absorbance Spectrum of a Bulk Heterojunction Organic Solar Cell

Shu-Ju Tsai, Mihaela Ballarotto, Hung-Chih Kan and Raymond J. Phaneuf
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Shu-Ju Tsai: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Mihaela Ballarotto: Laboratory for Physical Sciences, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Hung-Chih Kan: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Raymond J. Phaneuf: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Energies, 2015, vol. 8, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: We report on the effects of enhanced absorption/scattering from arrays of Au nanopillars of varied size and spacing on the spectral response of a P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction solar cell. Nanopillar array-patterned devices do show increased optical extinction within a narrow range of wavelengths compared to control samples without such arrays. The measured external quantum efficiency and calculated absorbance, however, both show a decrease near the corresponding wavelengths. Numerical simulations indicate that for relatively narrow nanopillars, the increased optical extinction is dominated by absorption within the nanopillars, rather than scattering, and is likely dissipated by Joule heating.

Keywords: organic solar cells; plasmonics; nanostructures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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