Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Using Solar Radiation Pressure Enhanced by Surface Plasmons at Visible to Near‐Infrared Wavelengths

Abstract

A light‐pressure electric generator (LPEG) device, which harvests piezoelectric energy using solar radiation enhanced by surface plasmons (SPs), is demonstrated. The design of the device is motivated by the need to drastically increase the power output of existing piezoelectric devices based on SP resonance. The solar radiation pressure can be used as an energy source by employing an indium tin oxide (ITO)/Ag double layer to excite the SPs in the near‐infrared (NIR) and visible light regions. The LPEG with the ITO layer generates an open‐circuit voltage of 295 mV, a short‐circuit current of 3.78 μA, and a power of 532.3 μW cm−2 under a solar simulator. The power of the LPEG device incorporating the ITO layer increased by 38% compared to the device without the ITO layer. The effect of the ITO layer on the electrical output of the LPEG was analyzed in detail by measuring the electrical output when visible and NIR lights are incident on the device using optical bandpass filters. In addition, finite‐difference time‐domain simulation confirmed that the pressure of the incident light can be further amplified by the ITO/Ag double layer. Finally, the energy harvested from the LPEG was stored in capacitors to successfully illuminate red light‐emitting diodes.