Nanostructured thin film silicon solar cells efficiency improvement using gold nanoparticles

We report the computational modeling of localized surface plasmon effects arising on gold (Au) nanoparticles deposited on silicon nanohole (SiNH) textured surface for thin film silicon solar cells application. Detailed balance analysis is carried out for the limiting efficiency of an optimized SiNH array textured surface in combination with the surface and bottom‐of‐a‐trench Au nanoparticle array described herein. We found that for the proposed geometry of the solar cell, the short circuit current density (JSC) and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) are 31.57 mA/cm2 and 25.42%, respectively, that compare favorably to the predicted JSC and PCE values of 25.45 mA/cm2 and 20.87% for an optimized SiNH textured surface without Au nanoparticles. We optimized the silicon dioxide/silicon nitride (SiO2/Si3N4) stack as a passivation layer, retaining the higher optical absorption. The scattering of incident radiation by the Au nanoparticles near their localized plasmon resonance is responsible for higher optical absorption and hence the higher predicted values for JSC and PCE.