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Plasmon-enhanced absorption in heterojunction n-ZnO nanorods/p-Si solar cells

The use of plasmonic inclusions in heterojunction solar cells promises increase of solar-to-electric energy conversion efficiency. Recently, solar cells with ZnO nanorods attracted a lot of attention due to improved efficiency provided by highly scattering ZnO nanostructures on silicon or perovskite. N-type ZnO nanorods are grown on p-Si monocrystalline 180 μm thick substrates among others by means of a hydrothermal technique which requires prior seeding by deposition of thin film of ZnO or noble metals. In the latter case, naturally formed metal islands can also act as plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs). Excitation of plasmonic resonance on the NPs leads to directional scattering of light towards Si layer and electromagnetic field enhancement at their vicinity, close to the ZnO-Si junction, what results in improved energy absorption in the semiconductor layer and thus energy conversion efficiency. In this study, we investigate optimal conditions at which plasmonic phenomenon further improves light trapping in the Si-ZnO solar cells. In simulations performed by means of 3D FDTD method, we calculate light absorption enhancement in the system due to plasmonic NPs used as a seed layer at the ZnO/Si. In the calculations Ag, and Al NPs of different size and geometry close to that achievable in the experiment are analyzed. Finally, numerical results taking into account the granulometry of metal NPs achieved in the experiment are compared with the efficiency of fabricated cells.