Direct measurement of optical losses in plasmon-enhanced thin silicon films (Conference Presentation)

Seweryn Morawiec; Jakub Holovský; Manuel J. Mendes; Martin Müller; Kristína Ganzerová; Aliaksei Vetushka; Martin Ledinský; Francesco Priolo; Antonín Fejfar; Isodiana Crupi

doi:10.1117/12.2321030

17 September 2018 Direct measurement of optical losses in plasmon-enhanced thin silicon films (Conference Presentation)

Seweryn Morawiec, Jakub Holovský, Manuel J. Mendes, Martin Müller, Kristína Ganzerová, Aliaksei Vetushka, Martin Ledinský, Francesco Priolo, Antonín Fejfar, Isodiana Crupi

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10722, Plasmonics: Design, Materials, Fabrication, Characterization, and Applications XVI; 107221M (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2321030
Event: SPIE Nanoscience + Engineering, 2018, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Plasmon-enhanced absorption, often considered as a promising solution for efficient light trapping in thin film silicon solar cells, suffers from pronounced optical losses i.e. parasitic absorption, which do not contribute to the obtainable photocurrent. Direct measurements of such losses are therefore essential to optimize the design of plasmonic nanostructures and supporting layers. Importantly, contributions of useful and parasitic absorption cannot be measured separately with commonly used optical spectrophotometry. In this study we apply a novel strategy consisting in a combination of photocurrent and photothermal spectroscopic techniques to experimentally quantify the trade-off between useful and parasitic absorption of light in thin hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) films incorporating self-assembled silver nanoparticle arrays located at their rear side. The highly sensitive photothermal technique accounts for all absorption processes that result in a generation of heat i.e. total absorption while the photocurrent spectroscopy accounts only for the photons absorbed in the μc-Si:H layer which generate photocarriers i.e. useful absorption [1]. We demonstrate that for 0.9 μm thick μc-Si:H film the optical losses resulting from the plasmonic light trapping are insignificant below 730 nm, above which they increase rapidly with increasing illumination wavelength. For the films deposited on nanoparticle arrays coupled with a flat silver mirror (plasmonic back reflector), we achieved a significant broadband enhancement of the useful absorption resulting from both surface texturing and plasmonic scattering, and achieving 91% of the theoretical Lambertian limit of absorption. [1] S. Morawiec et al. Experimental Quantification of Useful and Parasitic Absorption of Light in Plasmon-Enhanced Thin Silicon Films for Solar Cells Application. Scientific Reports 6 (2016)

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Seweryn Morawiec, Jakub Holovský, Manuel J. Mendes, Martin Müller, Kristína Ganzerová, Aliaksei Vetushka, Martin Ledinský, Francesco Priolo, Antonín Fejfar, and Isodiana Crupi "Direct measurement of optical losses in plasmon-enhanced thin silicon films (Conference Presentation)", Proc. SPIE 10722, Plasmonics: Design, Materials, Fabrication, Characterization, and Applications XVI, 107221M (17 September 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2321030

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available

Members: $17.00

Non-members: $21.00 ADD TO CART

PROCEEDINGS
PRESENTATION

WATCH
PRESENTATION SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

KEYWORDS

Absorption

Silicon films

Optical testing

Plasmonics

Nanoparticles

Silver

Spectroscopy

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years