Hybrid gold/porous silicon thin films for plasmonic solar cells

We present here a study on the viability of using gold nanoparticles infiltrated into porous silicon (PS) to develop plasmonic thin-film solar cells. For this objective, hybrid structures consisting of PS thin films and gold nanoparticles were fabricated. Optical, electrical and photocurrent measurements were carried out, from which it was found that the presence of gold nanoparticles in PS results in increased responsivity. This effect can be associated with increased light absorption and increased carrier collection efficiency. (C) 2013 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.