Ultrathin organic bulk heterojunction solar cells: Plasmon enhanced performance using Au nanoparticles

The plasmonic effect of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) enhances light absorption and, thus, the efficiency of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells with poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT): [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as active layer. We report optimization of this enhancement by vary...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2012-07, Vol.101 (5), p.53109
Main Authors: Shahin, Shiva, Gangopadhyay, Palash, Norwood, Robert A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Density
Gold
Heterojunctions
Indium tin oxide
Nanoparticles
Photovoltaic cells
Simulation
Solar cells
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The plasmonic effect of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) enhances light absorption and, thus, the efficiency of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells with poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT): [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as active layer. We report optimization of this enhancement by varying the attachment density of the self-assembled AuNPs on silanized ITO using N1-(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl)diethylenetriamine. Using finite difference time domain simulations, the thicknesses of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT): poly (styrenesulfonate) (PSS) and P3HT:PCBM layers were suitably varied to ensure broadband optical absorption enhancement and minimal exciton quenching within the active layer. Our experimental results demonstrate that for solar cell structures with 20% surface coverage, absorption is increased by 65% as predicted by simulations. Further, we show that AuNPs increase the efficiency by 30% and that silanization of ITO positively impacts device performance.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4739519