Multifunctional TiN nanowires for wide band absorption in organic solar cells

One of the key issues limiting the efficiency of organic solar cells is the narrow absorption band of the polymer active layer. Thus, a huge amount of the incident sunlight is lost. Here, a new structure is theoretically proposed achieving wide band absorption in organic solar cells using multifunctional TiN nanowires. In addition to the plasmonic properties of TiN, it was reported that TiN has the capability to produce free carriers upon light absorption. Thus, the structure is based on the ability to collect these photo-generated carriers. Using the combination of TiN and polymer significantly broadened the absorption band due to the ability of TiN to localize light inside P3HT:PC70BM in addition to its ability to absorb light at longer wavelengths. The optimized structure enhanced the absorbed power by 95% and the optimal short circuit current by 123% over the same structure without the TiN nanowires. Electric field distribution is studied at different wavelengths to gain further insight on the localization of light inside the structure.