Abstract

We present a new concept for broadband surface plasmon-assisted light harvesting in thin-film polymeric photovoltaic solar cells, wherein the cell’s metallic electrode is corrugated by a multi-periodic diffraction grating in order to efficiently absorb light. Led by the enhancement of absorption in an organic active layer, the overall absorption yield, the power conversion efficiency can be enhanced by several tens of percent for assumed standard P3HT:PCBM solar cell architecture. In addition, we discuss geometrical conformality that affects the interaction of light with other dielectric waveguide modes supported by the multilayer structure.

© 2015 Optical Society of America