Title: Plasmonic hole arrays for combined photon and electron management

Abstract

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.

Authors:

Liapis, Andreas C. ;

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Liapis, Andreas C."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-6810-3354"

Sfeir, Matthew Y. ;

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Sfeir, Matthew Y."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-5619-5722"

Black, Charles T.

Publication Date:

Mon Nov 14 00:00:00 EST 2016

Research Org.:

Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

OSTI Identifier:

1334353

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1332018; OSTI ID: 1341643

Report Number(s):

BNL-113362-2016-JA
Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951

Grant/Contract Number:  

SC0012704

Resource Type:

Published Article

Journal Name:

Applied Physics Letters

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Volume: 109 Journal Issue: 20; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951

Publisher:

American Institute of Physics

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY; metallic thin films; silver; thin film structure; solar cells; metal optics