The inclusion of plasmonic nanostructures inside semiconductors has been explored over the last decades with the prominent application of increasing the efficiency in solar cells. The plasmonic properties were often only phenomenologically explained by comparison of experiments with simulations. In this work we investigated the plasmonic properties of a silver particle inside virtual semiconductors with varying band gaps. Because the particle plasmon peaks strictly followed the virtual semiconductor band gap, it was found that only the maxima in the real part of the refractive index were responsible for the presence of particle plasmon peaks. This model, in which the plasmonic response is to a large extent determined by the semiconductor refractive index profile, explains previous investigations of plasmonic nanostructures inside semiconductors in a simple way and will enable a detailed design and explanation of future nanostructured plasmonic systems for solar cells and other devices.

The effect of the refractive index profile on the optical response of plasmonic nanostructures inside semiconductors / Z.T. Rex, M. Di Vece. - In: OPTICAL MATERIALS. - ISSN 0925-3467. - 96(2019), pp. 109314.1-109314.5. [10.1016/j.optmat.2019.109314]

The effect of the refractive index profile on the optical response of plasmonic nanostructures inside semiconductors

M. Di Vece
2019

Abstract

The inclusion of plasmonic nanostructures inside semiconductors has been explored over the last decades with the prominent application of increasing the efficiency in solar cells. The plasmonic properties were often only phenomenologically explained by comparison of experiments with simulations. In this work we investigated the plasmonic properties of a silver particle inside virtual semiconductors with varying band gaps. Because the particle plasmon peaks strictly followed the virtual semiconductor band gap, it was found that only the maxima in the real part of the refractive index were responsible for the presence of particle plasmon peaks. This model, in which the plasmonic response is to a large extent determined by the semiconductor refractive index profile, explains previous investigations of plasmonic nanostructures inside semiconductors in a simple way and will enable a detailed design and explanation of future nanostructured plasmonic systems for solar cells and other devices.
Semiconductors; Plasmonic nanostructures; Solar cells; FDTD simulations
Settore FIS/01 - Fisica Sperimentale
Settore FIS/03 - Fisica della Materia
2019
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/673563
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