Comparative Simulations of Conductive Nitrides as Alternative Plasmonic Nanostructures for Solar Cells

Particle layers employing conductive transition metal nitrides have been proposed as possible alternative plasmonic materials for photovoltaic applications due to their reduced losses compared to metal nanostructures. We critically compare the potential photocurrent gain from an additional layer made of nanopillars of nitrides with other material classes obtained in an optimized c-Si baseline solar cell, considering an experimental doping profile. A relative photocurrent gain enhancement of on average 5% to 10% is observed, achieving for a few scenarios around 30% gain. The local field enhancement is moderate around the resonances for nitrides which spread over the whole ultraviolet and visible range. We can characterize two types of nitrides: nitrides for which the shading effect remains a problem similar to for metals, and others which behave like dielectric scatterers with high photocurrent gain.