Influence of the Shape and Size of Ag Nanoparticles on the Performance Enhancement of CIGS Solar Cells: the Role of Surf
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Influence of the Shape and Size of Ag Nanoparticles on the Performance Enhancement of CIGS Solar Cells: the Role of Surface Plasmons S. M. S. Hasheminassab 1 & M. Imanieh 1
&
A. Kamali 1 & S. A. Emamghorashi 1 & S. Hassanhosseini 1
Received: 2 July 2020 / Accepted: 31 August 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The efficiency of thin-film solar cells can be increased considerably by coupling the solar cells with plasmonic nanoparticles. However, while the benefits of utilizing plasmonic nanoparticles has formerly been recognized, the physical properties of the nanoparticles at which the conversion efficiency is optimized have not yet been completely studied. Among the possible properties, this study investigates meticulously the effects of plasmonic nanoparticle shapes and size on the improvement of the energy conversion efficiency of CIGS solar cells. Two different shapes including spheres and cylinders were analyzed in this study. It was revealed that the cylindrical Ag nanoparticles with a diameter of 50 nm and a height of 125 nm placed in an array with period of 215 nm exhibited the most substantial enhancement in the optical absorption and electrical current generation. The achievements in this article have been attained through optical and electrical analysis as well as the near-field imaging studies. Keywords Plasmonics . CIGS . Ag nanoparticles . Nanoparticle shapes . FDTD
Introduction Photovoltaic (PV) cells are semiconductor devices that convert solar irradiation into electrical energy. As a renewable source, solar energy can be the most reliable option. Compared with the expensive crystalline siliconbased solar cells, the affordable and highly efficient thinfilm solar cells can facilitate the path of generalization of the PV technology worldwide. CIGS solar cells have drawn lots of attention due to their promising performance. CIGS is a quaternary compound with properties common between CuInSe2 and CuGaSe2. In spite of positive aspects of CIGS solar cells, there is still a long way to reach the goal of high performance and affordability. According to the Shockley-Queisser limit, the maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) for a single-junction solar cell is around 33.7% [1]. However, there is a big
* M. Imanieh [email protected] 1
Department of Electrical Engineering, Fasa Branch, Islamic Azad University, Fasa, Iran
difference between the highest reported PCE for CIGS solar cells and the Shockley-Queisser limit [2]. Therefore, finding solutions to enhance the PCE of CIGS solar cells is necessary. Using plasmonic metallic NPs (PMNPs) is a remedy to enhance the PCE of thinfilm solar cells. PMNPs in an appropriate shape and period can increase the optical path length inside the solar cells, thus increasing the light trapping and the PCE of the solar cell. This happens due to the increase in the absorption of light by excitation of localized surface plasmons (LSPs). Surface plasmons are identified as the free electron oscillations at the interface bet
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