Plasmonic enhancement in PbS quantum dot solar cells

Third generation quantum dot solar cells are one of the promising sources of clean energy. However, poor efficiency is a major issue; they are in a positive direction of optimization. To optimize their performance, we should select the materials which can absorb more light radiation in visible and infrared regions. To this regard, the gold plasmonic enhancement shows a promise to improve the efficiency of photovoltaics. Here, we report a solution process of depleted heterojunction PbS solar cells in the presence of gold nanoparticles. In our experiment, the solar cells show a better absorption and efficiency in the presence of the Au nanoparticles. The fabricated solar cell in the addition of Au nanoparticles has the average efficiency of 4.15%, where as the solar cell without plasmons has the average efficiency of 4.00%.