Hot-carrier solar cell based on plasmonic nanofocusing

We propose and numerically demonstrate a novel hot-carrier solar cell based on plasmonic nanofocusing. It consists of a gold-coated titanium dioxide nanowires with a cone on the top and a bottom gold film. The ultra-broadband absorption is mainly due to the high light coupling efficiency induced by the gradual openings between the cones and the strong plasmonic nanofocusing effects induced by the nanoslots connecting to the gradual openings. Because of this, we achieve larger short-circuit current density, larger open-circuit voltage and consequently higher power conversion efficiency as compared to its planar counterpart.