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Spin Coated Plasmonic Nanoparticle Interfaces for Photocurrent Enhancement in Thin Film Si Solar Cells

Nanoparticle (NP) arrays of noble metals strongly absorb light in the visible to infrared wavelengths through resonant interactions between the incident electromagnetic field and the metal's free electron plasma. Such plasmonic interfaces enhance light absorption and photocurrent in solar cells. We report a cost effective and scalable room temperature/pressure spin-coating route to fabricate broadband plasmonic interfaces consisting of silver NPs. The NP interface yields photocurrent enhancement (PE) in thin film silicon devices by up to 200% which is significantly greater than previously reported values. For coatings produced from Ag nanoink containing particles with average diameter of 40 nm, an optimal NP surface coverage of 7% was observed. Scanning electron microscopy of interface morphologies revealed that for low surface coverage, particles are well-separated, resulting in broadband PE. At higher surface coverage, formation of particle strings and clusters caused red-shifting of the PE peak and a narrower spectral response.