Plasmonic Effects in Organic Solar Cells

Abstract

The work provides a systematic study on plasmonic e®ects in organic solar cells (OSCs). We ¯rst introduce the concepts, signi¯cance, and recent progress of OSCs incorporating plasmonic nanostructures. On the basis of unique features of OSCs, we exploit versatile res- onance mechanisms acting on the absorption enhancement of OSCs; for example, Fabry-P¶erot mode, quasi-guided mode, and plasmonic mode. Next, we present rigorous theoretical models to characterize optical properties of OSCs. The key physical quantities, as well as the pros and cons of di®erent models, are described. After that, we show some theoretical results to unveil the fundamental and device physics of plasmonic e®ects in typical OSC structures. Finally, we conclude the paper and identify future opportunities in this ¯eld. The following ¯gures show the optical designs of plasmonic nanostructures for improving the optical absorption of OSCs.