Surface plasmon polariton enhanced ultrathin nano-structured CdTe solar cell.

We demonstrate numerically that two-dimensional arrays of ultrathin CdTe nano-cylinders on Ag can serve as an effective broadband anti-reflection structure for solar cell applications. Such devices exhibit strong absorption properties, mainly in the CdTe semiconductor regions, and can produce short-circuit current densities of 23.4 mA/cm(2), a remarkable number in the context of solar cells given the ultrathin dimensions of our nano-cylinders. The strong absorption is enabled via excitation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) under plane wave incidence. In particular, we identified the key absorption mechanism as enhanced fields of the SPP standing waves residing at the interface of CdTe nano-cylinders and Ag. We compare the performance of Ag, Au, and Al substrates, and observe significant improvement when using Ag, highlighting the importance of using low-loss metals. Although we use CdTe here, the proposed approach is applicable to other solar cell materials with similar absorption properties.

Tailoring directional scattering through magnetic and electric resonances in subwavelength silicon nanodisks.

Interference of optically induced electric and magnetic modes in high-index all-dielectric nanoparticles offers unique opportunities for tailoring directional scattering and engineering the flow of light. In this article we demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that the interference of electric and magnetic optically induced modes in individual subwavelength silicon nanodisks can lead to the suppression of resonant backscattering and to enhanced resonant forward scattering of light. To this end we spectrally tune the nanodisk's fundamental electric and magnetic resonances with respect to each other by a variation of the nanodisk aspect ratio. This ability to tune two modes of different character within the same nanoparticle provides direct control over their interference, and, in consequence, allows for engineering the particle's resonant and off-resonant scattering patterns. Most importantly, measured and numerically calculated transmittance spectra reveal that backward scattering can be suppressed and forward scattering can be enhanced at resonance for the particular case of overlapping electric and magnetic resonances. Our experimental results are in good agreement with calculations based on the discrete dipole approach as well as finite-integral frequency-domain simulations. Furthermore, we show useful applications of silicon nanodisks with tailored resonances as optical nanoantennas with strong unidirectional emission from a dipole source.

Plexciton dynamics: exciton-plasmon coupling in a J-aggregate-Au nanoshell complex provides a mechanism for nonlinearity.

Coherently coupled plasmons and excitons give rise to new optical excitations--plexcitons--due to the strong coupling of these two oscillator systems. Time-resolved studies of J-aggregate-Au nanoshell complexes when the nanoshell plasmon and J-aggregate exciton energies are degenerate probe the dynamical behavior of this coupled system. Transient absorption of the interacting plasmon-exciton system is observed, in dramatic contrast to the photoinduced transmission of the pristine J-aggregate. An additional, transient Fano-shaped modulation within the Fano dip is also observable. The behavior of the J-aggregate-Au nanoshell complex is described by a combined one-exciton and two-exciton state model coupled to the nanoshell plasmon.

Plexcitonic nanoparticles: plasmon-exciton coupling in nanoshell-J-aggregate complexes.

Stable Au nanoshell-J-aggregate complexes are formed that exhibit coherent coupling between the localized plasmons of a nanoshell and the excitons of molecular J-aggregates adsorbed on its surface. By tuning the nanoshell plasmon energies across the exciton line of the J-aggregate, plasmon-exciton coupling energies for these complexes are obtained. The strength of this interaction is dependent on the specific plasmon mode of the nanoparticle coupled to the J-aggregate exciton. From a model based on Gans theory, we obtain an expression for the plasmon-exciton hybridized states of the complex.