Broadband Characteristics Of Surface Plasmon Enhanced Solar Cells

The surface plasmon characteristics of metal nanostructures have the potential to improve optical absorption in thin film photovoltaics. We present a novel method for simulating and analyzing absorption in the active region of metal nanoparticle enhanced solar cells, capable of determining broad spectrum behavior from a single simulation and accurately accounting for optical losses in the metal. This method has several advantages over alternative simulations, and can be applied to modelling any number of thin film material systems.