Extended short-wavelength spectral response of organic/(silver nanoparticles/Si nanoholes nanocomposite films) hybrid solar cells due to localized surface plasmon resonance

In this letter, we investigated spectral and opto-electronic conversion properties of the inorganic/organic hybrid cells by using silver nanoparticles (AgNPs)/Si nanoholes (SiNHs) nanocomposite films, which were fabricated by the modified metal-assisted electroless etching (EE) method. It was found that the optical absorption spectra of the films with AgNPs demonstrate a clear peak and show the enhancement of total absorption at the short wavelength. The results of current-voltage (I-V) measurements show that solar cells with AgNPs exhibit an increase of the power conversion efficiency by a factor of 2-3, in comparison with those of the samples without AgNPs. Moreover, higher external quantum efficiency (EQE) values in AgNPs-decorated solar cells were confirmed in the short-wavelength spectral region (400-700 nm), which were essential to achieve high-performance photovoltaic cells. We thought these were mainly attributed to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effects and increased light scattering of AgNPs.