# Substrate-induced interfacial plasmonics for photovoltaic conversion

## TL;DR

This paper explores how plasmonic effects at material interfaces can improve solar cell efficiency by enhancing light absorption.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel atomic-scale interface design that enables substrate-induced plasmonic hybridization for photovoltaic enhancement.

## Key findings

- Graphene is transparent to electromagnetic fields, enabling plasmonic hybridization at the interface.
- Substrate-induced plasmonics combined with interparticle coupling enhances dye photo-excitation.
- The interface design improves photovoltaic conversion efficiency through better light concentration.

## Abstract

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is widely used as light trapping schemes in solar cells, because it can concentrate light fields surrounding metal nanostructures and realize light management at the nanoscale. SPR in photovoltaics generally occurs at the metal/dielectric interfaces. A well-defined interface is therefore required to elucidate interfacial SPR processes. Here, we designed a photovoltaic device (PVD) with an atomically flat TiO2 dielectric/dye/graphene/metal nanoparticle (NP) interface for quantitatively studying the SPR enhancement of the photovoltaic conversion. Theoretical and experimental results indicated that the graphene monolayer was transparent to the electromagnetic field. This transparency led to significant substrate-induced plasmonic hybridization at the heterostructure interface. Combined with interparticle plasmonic coupling, the substrate-induced plasmonics concentrated light at the interface and enhanced the photo-excitation of dyes, thus improving the photoelectric conversion. Such a mechanistic understanding of interfacial plasmonic enhancement will further promote the development of efficient plasmon-enhanced solar cells and composite photocatalysts.