High-performance integrated optics, solar cells, and sensors require nanoscale optical components at the surface of the device, in order to manipulate, redirect and concentrate light. High-index ...dielectric resonators provide the possibility to do this efficiently with low absorption losses. The resonances supported by dielectric resonators are both magnetic and electric in nature. Combined scattering from these two can be used for directional scattering. Most applications require strong coupling between the particles and the substrate in order to enhance the absorption in the substrate. However, the coupling with the substrate strongly influences the resonant behavior of the particles. Here, we systematically study the influence of particle geometry and dielectric environment on the resonant behavior of dielectric resonators in the visible to near-IR spectral range. We show the key role of retardation in the excitation of the magnetic dipole (MD) mode, as well as the limit where no MD mode is supported. Furthermore, we study the influence of particle diameter, shape and substrate index on the spectral position, width and overlap of the electric dipole (ED) and MD modes. Also, we show that the ED and MD mode can selectively be enhanced or suppressed using multi-layer substrates. And, by comparing dipole excitation and plane wave excitation, we study the influence of driving field on the scattering properties. Finally, we show that the directional radiation profiles of the ED and MD modes in resonators on a substrate are similar to those of point-dipoles close to a substrate. Altogether, this work is a guideline how to tune magnetic and electric resonances for specific applications.
Reflection is a natural phenomenon that occurs when light passes the interface between materials with different refractive index. In many applications, such as solar cells or photodetectors, ...reflection is an unwanted loss process. Many ways to reduce reflection from a substrate have been investigated so far, including dielectric interference coatings, surface texturing, adiabatic index matching and scattering from plasmonic nanoparticles. Here we present an entirely new concept that suppresses the reflection of light from a silicon surface over a broad spectral range. A two-dimensional periodic array of subwavelength silicon nanocylinders designed to possess strongly substrate-coupled Mie resonances yields almost zero total reflectance over the entire spectral range from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared. This new antireflection concept relies on the strong forward scattering that occurs when a scattering structure is placed in close proximity to a high-index substrate with a high optical density of states.
Metal nanoparticles are efficient antennas for light. If embedded in a semiconductor material, they can enhance light absorption in the semiconductor, due to the strong plasmonic near-field coupling. ...We use numerical simulations to calculate the absorption enhancement in the semiconductor using Ag nanoparticles with diameters in the range 5-60 nm for crystalline Si, amorphous Si, a polymer blend, and Fe
O
. We study single Ag particles in a 100×100×100 nm semiconductor volume, as well as periodic arrays with 100 nm pitch. We find that in all cases Ohmic dissipation in the metal is a major absorption factor. In crystalline Si, while Ag nanoparticles cause a 5-fold enhancement of the absorbance in the weakly absorbing near-bandgap spectral range, Ohmic losses in the metal dominate the absorption. We conclude crystalline Si cannot be sensitized with Ag nanoparticles in a practical way. Similar results are found for Fe
O
. The absorbance in the polymer blend can be enhanced by up to 100% using Ag nanoparticles, at the expense of strong additional absorption by Ohmic losses. Amorphous Si cannot be sensitized with Ag nanoparticles due to the mismatch between the plasmon resonance and the bandgap of a-Si. By using sensitization with Ag nanoparticles the thickness of some semiconductor materials can be reduced while keeping the same absorbance, which has benefits for materials with short carrier diffusion lengths. Scattering mechanisms by plasmonic nanoparticles that are beneficial for enhanced light trapping in solar cells are not considered in this paper.
Silver nanoparticle arrays placed on top of a high-refractive index substrate enhance the coupling of light into the substrate over a broad spectral range. We perform a systematic numerical and ...experimental study of the light incoupling by arrays of Ag nanoparticle arrays in order to achieve the best impedance matching between light propagating in air and in the substrate. We identify the parameters that determine the incoupling efficiency, including the effect of Fano resonances in the scattering, interparticle coupling, as well as resonance shifts due to variations in the near-field coupling to the substrate and spacer layer. The optimal configuration studied is a square array of 200 nm wide, 125 nm high spheroidal Ag particles, at a pitch of 450 nm on a 50 nm thick Si3N4 spacer layer on a Si substrate. When integrated over the AM1.5 solar spectral range from 300 to 1100 nm, this particle array shows 50% enhanced incoupling compared to a bare Si wafer, 8% higher than a standard interference antireflection coating. Experimental data show that the enhancement occurs mostly in the spectral range near the Si band gap. This study opens new perspectives for antireflection coating applications in optical devices and for light management in Si solar cells.
Plasmonic nanostructures have been recently investigated as a possible way to improve absorption of light in solar cells. The strong interaction of small metal nanostructures with light allows ...control over the propagation of light at the nanoscale and thus the design of ultrathin solar cells in which light is trapped in the active layer and efficiently absorbed. In this paper we review some of our recent work in the field of plasmonics for improved solar cells. We have investigated two possible ways of integrating metal nanoparticles in a solar cell. First, a layer of Ag nanoparticles that improves the standard antireflection coating used for crystalline and amorphous silicon solar cells has been designed and fabricated. Second, regular and random arrays of metal nanostructures have been designed to couple light in waveguide modes of thin semiconductor layers. Using a large-scale, relative inexpensive nano-imprint technique, we have designed a back-contact light trapping surface for a-Si:H solar cells which show enhanced efficiency over standard randomly textured cells.
After decades of process scaling driven by Moore's law, the silicon microelectronics world is now defined by length scales that are many times smaller than the dimensions of typical micro-optical ...components. This size mismatch poses an important challenge for those working to integrate photonics with complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) electronics technology. One promising solution is to fabricate optical systems at metal/dielectric interfaces, where electromagnetic modes called surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) offer unique opportunities to confine and control light at length scales below 100 nm (refs 1, 2). Research groups working in the rapidly developing field of plasmonics have now demonstrated many passive components that suggest the potential of SPPs for applications in sensing and optical communication. Recently, active plasmonic devices based on III-V materials and organic materials have been reported. An electrical source of SPPs was recently demonstrated using organic semiconductors by Koller and colleagues. Here we show that a silicon-based electrical source for SPPs can be fabricated using established low-temperature microtechnology processes that are compatible with back-end CMOS technology.
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