Multiscale Study of Plasmonic-Enhanced Nanoscale Photovoltaics with Electromagnetic/ Quantum-Mechanical Method

Abstract

This paper concentrates on simulation of multiscale plasmonic-enhanced nanoscale photovoltaics. A multiscale electromagnetics/quantum-mechanical (EM/QM) method is proposed to model the current-voltage characteristics and optical properties of plasmonic nanowire-based solar cells. The EM/QM method features a combination of classical Maxwell description for electromagnetic environment and first-principles quantum mechanical treatment for the photoactive component. The coupled optical-electrical EM/QM simulations demonstrate a dramatic enhancement for power conversion efficiency of nanowire solar cells due to the surface plasmon effect of nanometallic structures.