Optical pathlength enhancement in ultrathin silicon solar cell using decorated silver nanoparticles on aluminium grating

In this work, ultrathin silicon solar cell design employed with the aid of periodic silver (Ag) nanoparticles substituted on an aluminium (Al) grating to improve the optical performance by using rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) method. The enhanced light absorption was observed in the silicon absorber region, due to the photonic and plasmonic modes between the metal and dielectric surface. With the optimal structure, maximum short-circuit current densities were observed at transverse magnetic ($\sim$36.13 mA/cm$^2$) and electric (31.59 mA/cm$^2$) modes. Further, we have demonstrated the effectiveness of the different ultrathin silicon solar cells with plasmonic structures and compared.