Efficiency Enhancement of CZTS Solar Cells Using Al Plasmonic Nanoparticles: The Effect of Size and Period of Nanoparticles

Abstract

In the present study, the performance improvement of the promising eco-friendly Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) solar cells have been investigated numerically using Al plasmonic nanoparticles. The optical and electrical simulations were performed using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. It was revealed that loading plasmonic nanoparticles on the topmost layer of the CZTS solar cell leads to light absorption enhancement in the cell. By sweeping the radius of plasmonic nanoparticles from 20 nm to 60 nm, a significant enhancement in the efficiency occurred. The variation of the external quantum efficiency (EQE) and photovoltaic current density–voltage (J–V) curve under air mass of AM1.5 with and without plasmonic nanoparticles were also studied.