Theory of plasmonic near-field enhanced absorption in solar cells

We derive analytical expressions for the absorption enhancement expected when dilute suspensions of small metallic nanoparticles are inserted inside an organic semiconductor. A comparison with accurate numerical simulations shows excellent agreement for a wide range of volume filling ratios and even in the case of mixing different types of metals. These results are invaluable tools in optimizing the absorption performance of plasmonic thin-film organic solar cells. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3623759]