Comparative Simulations of Conductive Nitrides as Alternative Plasmonic Nanostructures for Solar Cells

Particle layers employing conductive transition metal nitrides have been proposed as possible alternative plasmonic materials for photovoltaic applications due to their reduced losses compared nanostructures. We critically compare the potential photocurrent gain from an additional layer made of nanopillars with other material classes obtained in optimized c-Si baseline solar cell, considering experimental doping profile. A relative enhancement on average 5% 10% is observed, achieving a few scenarios around 30% gain. The local field moderate resonances which spread over whole ultraviolet and visible range. can characterize two types nitrides: shading effect remains problem similar metals, others behave like dielectric scatterers high