Ultrafine gold nanowire networks as plasmonic antennae in organic photovoltaics

• Main Authors: Oo, Than Z., Mathews, Nripan, Xing, Guichuan, Wu, Bo, Xing, Bengang, Wong, Lydia Helena, Sum, Tze Chien, Mhaisalkar, Subodh Gautam
• Other Authors: School of Materials Science & Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Chemistry::Physical chemistry
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/99076; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/17207
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Solution-processed ultrafine gold nanowires (Au-NWs) have been exploited as plasmonic antennae in organic P3HT:PCBM photovoltaic cells. The careful reduction of the spacer layer thickness which allows the evanescent field to be extended into the photoactive layer and the geometry of the Au-NWs bands which favors the enhanced scattering collectively result in an increased short-circuit current density by 23.2%. The exact nature of the plasmonic effect in Au-NWs incorporated P3HT system and the critical role played by the spacer layer were studied through optical and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy. The improved photocurrent in the Au-NWs integrated devices is due to an enhanced absorption in the photoactive layer which is contributed from an increased plasmon excitation field and far-field scattering of Au-NWs.