Effective light trapping enhancement by plasmonic Ag nanoparticles on silicon pyramid surface

Plasmonic Ag nanoparticles were deposited on the silicon pyramid structures to further reduce surface reflectance. Compared with the bare silicon pyramid surface, a dramatic reflectance reduction around 380 nm was observed and the weighted average surface reflectance from 300 nm to 1100 nm could be reduced about 3.4%. By a series of designed experiments combined with Mie theory calculations, the influences of the size, shape and density distribution of Ag nanoparticles on the surface reflectance reduction were investigated in detail. This study shows a practicable method to improve light trapping for the application to solar cells.