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Title: Plasmonic hole arrays for combined photon and electron management

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4967791· OSTI ID:1334353

Material architectures that balance optical transparency and electrical conductivity are highly sought after for thin-film device applications. However, these are competing properties, since the electronic structure that gives rise to conductivity typically also leads to optical opacity. Nanostructured metal films that exhibit extraordinary optical transmission, while at the same time being electrically continuous, offer considerable flexibility in the design of their transparency and resistivity. In this paper, we present design guidelines for metal films perforated with arrays of nanometer-scale holes, discussing the consequences of the choice of nanostructure dimensions, of the type of metal, and of the underlying substrate on their electrical, optical, and interfacial properties. We experimentally demonstrate that such films can be designed to have broad-band optical transparency while being an order of magnitude more conductive than indium tin oxide. Finally, prototypical photovoltaic devices constructed with perforated metal contacts convert ~18% of the incident photons, compared to <1% for identical devices having contacts without the hole array.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704
OSTI ID:
1334353
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1332018; OSTI ID: 1341643
Report Number(s):
BNL-113362-2016-JA
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Vol. 109 Journal Issue: 20; ISSN 0003-6951
Publisher:
American Institute of PhysicsCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 3 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (2)

Recent Advances of Plasmonic Organic Solar Cells: Photophysical Investigations journal January 2018
p‐Type Doped AlAsSb/GaSb Resonant Tunneling Diode Photodetector for the Mid‐Infrared Spectral Region journal October 2018