Scattering of light into thin film solar cells by rear located hemispherical silver nanoparticles

In this work, we numerically investigate the scattering and coupling efficiencies of the rear located hemispherical silver nanoparticles by using finite difference time domain simulations. The results indicate that the placement and diameters of silver nanoparticles have a strong impact on scattering efficiency. When the Ag particle extends into the silicon, the scattering from the particle is dominant and there is good coupling efficiency of the incident energy into the semiconductor. As the scattering cross-section increase with increasing diameter of the nanoparticle due to the surface plasmon polaritons resonance enhancement and the localized field intensity along the interface reach the maxima when a 60 nm rear located hemispherical particle extends to the silicon, the light trapping is more efficient. Such design could be used to improve light trapping for thin film solar cell devices.