Photoelectric properties of organic dye LB film cells utilizing surface plasmon excitation

Short-circuit photocurrents (I/sub sc/) were investigated for the merocyanine dye LB photoelectric cells in the attenuated total reflection (ATR) configurations. The I/sub sc/ profiles as a function of incident angle corresponded to the ATR properties in the cells. The optical properties in the cells were calculated. It was estimated that the I/sub sc/ was caused by the strong optical absorption in the cells related to surface plasmon (SP) excitations. It is expected that photocurrents can be enhanced utilizing the SP excitations in the ATR configuration.