Plasmonic excitation of organic double heterostructure solar cells

The authors demonstrate that thin film organic photovoltaic cells are efficient detectors of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). For lambda=532 nm radiation in a Kretschmann configuration, the external quantum efficiency in fullerene-copper phthalocyanine photovoltaic cells is doubled at resonance to 12%. In thin heterojunction organic photovoltaics, SPP detection relies on a substantial increase in absorption when the incoming radiation is coupled to guided SPPs rather than unguided photons. SPP scattering and nonradiative losses are negligible; however, optical modeling shows that cathode metal penetration into the neighboring organic semiconductor is a major source of loss for SPP or photonic excitation. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.