Developing dielectric-metal hybrid nanomaterials for solar cells

Dielectric resonating materials are useful in solar cells as they excite strong optical coupling to underlying solar cells.^[1] We present the method to further enhance the optoelectronic responses of solar cells with the application of plasmonic nanoparticles (e.g., Au, Ag, Al). When placed atop dielectric resonators, the plasmonic particles strongly capture incident light by localized surface plasmon effect at visible wavelengths, further increasing optical coupling between dielectric resonators and solar cells. From our simulations and analytical calculations, it is found that the photo-response of solar cells can further be enhanced as much as > 5 % with hybrid nanomaterials. With the strong excited optical modes, we also found that the light absorbed in underlying solar cells can be increased close to 100 % at resonant peaks, demonstrating the potential of developing high-performing optical sensors. To realize the full potential of using hybrid nanomaterials, we also discuss how to optimize the geometry (e.g., size, periodicity) and materials (e.g., metal alloys) of plasmonic particles.