Titanium nitride based plasmonic nanoparticles for photovoltaic application

Abstract

The plasmonic light trapping mechanism is an excellent way of improving solar cell efficiency. In this paper, our primary goal was to design and assess plasmonic nanosystems using TiN as an alternative material for photovoltaic application through theoretical simulations. To establish TiN's functionality as a plasmonic material, we conducted a comparative analysis with noble metals, Ag and Au. We demonstrated, utilizing TiN-based plasmonic nanostructures, that the fraction of light scatter into the substrate can be tuned by varying the shape, size, thickness, dielectric thickness, and varying source angle. Moreover, total scattering in the wavelength range of the solar spectrum was modulated. The scattering performance improved for the thicker dielectric layer. Among the nanostructures, the bowtie shape showed a better light absorption cross-section. TiN nanostructures enhanced path length with a maximum scattering cross-section of 4.58 Wm^-2 for bowtie-shaped nanoplate on 30 nm Si_3N_4. The maximum light absorption efficiency obtained for TiN plasmonic nanostructure was ~ 30%. Moreover, absorption enhancement was achieved for TiN in visible and infrared wavelength regions.