The Use of Plasmonic Metal Nanoparticles to Enhance the Efficiency of Thin-Film Silicon (Si) and Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) Solar Cells – A Comparative Study

This study compares the response of thin-film silicon and gallium arsenide solar cells to the use of plasmonic metal nanoparticles for modifying their respective opto-electronic behavior. Square arrays of silver nanoparticles were placed at different inter-particle distances on top of a thin film of Silicon and gallium-arsenide substrate, respectively. The absorption of incident sunlight within each solar cell type is analyzed, and compared to the short circuit current density, open circuit voltage and the output power generated from each solar cell type due to the effect of the plasmonic nanoparticles. It is found that gallium-arsenide shows larger values than Silicon of the short circuit current generated, open circuit voltage, the fill-factor and the output power generated. These results show the effect of plasmonic metal nanoparticles to increase the optoelectronic efficiency of thin-film solar cells is not limited to only Silicon substrates but extends to other commonly used semiconductor substrates.