Plasmonic solar cells: A bridge between electromagnetics and semiconductor physics

A multiphysics study carries out on plasmonic organic solar cells (OSCs) by solving Maxwell's equations and semiconductor (Poisson, drift-diffusion, and continuity) equations simultaneously with unified finite-difference framework. (See Applied Physics Letters, 101, 223302, 2012; and Optics Express, 20, 2572-2580, 2012.) Regarding the Maxwell's equations, the perfectly matched layer and periodic boundary conditions are imposed at the vertical and lateral directions of OSCs to simulate the infinite air region and metallic grating electrode, respectively. In view of the semiconductor equations, the Scharfetter-Gummel scheme and semi-implicit strategy are adopted respectively in the space and time domains. To model the bulk heterojunction OSCs, the Langevin bimolecular recombination and Onsager-Braun exciton dissociation models are fully taken into account. The exciton generation rate depending on the optical absorption of the organic active material can be obtained by solving the Maxwell's equations and will be inserted into the semiconductor equations. Through the exciton generation rate, we seamlessly connect the optical with the electrical properties of plasmonic OSCs.