Study of plasmonic effect in silicon solar cells with silver nanoparticles Available to Purchase

This article presents a study of the plasmonic effect of small-size silver nanoparticles in silicon (Si)-based solar cells. The particles were deposited on the surface of Si by the thermal evaporation method. The size of the particles and their distribution was studied using scanning electron microscopy. It is shown that the largest particle size was ≈32 nm. The samples were capped by SiO_x or SiN_x, and reflectance spectra measured. It was found that the reflectance decreases with increasing silver nanoparticle diameter. Annealing at 375°C did not cause qualitative change of the reflectance spectra. The particles were deposited on Si solar cells, and current–voltage dependence was measured.