Enhanced organic solar cell performance: Multiple surface plasmon resonance and incorporation of silver nanodisks into a grating‐structure electrode

In this study, plasmonic nanostructures were examined to enhance the light harvesting of organic thin-film solar cells (OSCs) by multiple surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomena originating from the grating-coupled configuration with a Blu-ray Disc recordable (BD-R)-imprinted aluminum (Al) grating structure and the incorporation of a series of silver nanodisks (Ag NDs). The devices with such a configuration maximize the light utilization inside OSCs via light absorption, light scattering, and trapping via multiple surface plasmon resonances. Different types and sizes of metallic nanoparticles (NPs), i.e., gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), Ag nanospheres (Ag NSs), and Ag NDs, were used, which were blended separately in a PEDOT:PSS hole transport layer (HTL). The device structure comprised of grating-imprinted-Al/P3HT:PCBM/Ag ND:PEDOT:PSS/ITO. Results obtained from the J–V curves revealed that the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of grating-structured Al/P3HT:PCBM/PEDOT:PSS/ITO is 3.16%; this value is ~6% higher than that of a flat substrate. On the other hand, devices with flat Al and incorporated Au NPs, Ag NSs, or Ag NDs in the HTL exhibited PCEs ranging from 3.15% to 3.37%. Furthermore, OSCs with an Al grating substrate were developed by the incorporation of the Ag ND series into the PEDOT:PSS layer. Compared with that of a reference device, the PCEs of the devices increased to 3.32%–3.59% (11%–20% improvement), indicating that the light absorption enhancement at the active layer corresponds to the grating-coupled surface plasmon resonance and localized surface plasmon resonance excitations with strong near-field distributions penetrating into the active layer leading to higher efficiencies and subsequent better current generation.