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arXiv · 1901.00454

Absorption Enhancement for Ultra-Thin Solar Fuel Devices with Plasmonic Gratings

Phillip Manley·Fatwa F. Abdi·Sean Berglund·A. T. M. Nazmul Islam·Sven Burger·Roel van de Krol·Martina Schmid
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Abstract

We present a concept for an ultra-thin solar fuel device with a nanostructured back contact. Using rigorous simulations we show that the nanostructuring significantly increases the absorption in the semiconductor, CuBi$_2$O$_4$ in this case, by 47\% (5.2~mAcm$^{-2}$) through the excitation of plasmonic modes. We are able to attribute the resonances in the device to metal-insulator-metal plasmons coupled to either localised surface plasmon resonances or surface plasmon polaritons. Rounding applied to the metallic corners leads to a blueshift in the resonance wavelength while maintaining absorption enhancement, thus supporting the possibility for a successful realization of the device. For a 2D array, the tolerance of the polarization-dependent absorption enhancement is investigated and compared to a planar structure. The device maintains an absorption enhancement up to incident angles of 75$^{\circ}$. The study highlights the high potential for plasmonics in ultra-thin opto-electronic devices such as in solar fuel generation.

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Phillip Manley, Fatwa F. Abdi, Sean Berglund, A. T. M. Nazmul Islam, Sven Burger, Roel van de Krol, Martina Schmid. 2019-01-02. Absorption Enhancement for Ultra-Thin Solar Fuel Devices with Plasmonic Gratings. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.8b01070

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