Chen Sun& Hongtao Gao& Ruiying Shi& Chuanhao Li& Chunlei Du

C. Sun: H. Gao: C. Li: C. Du (*) Chongqing Institute of green and intelligent technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 401122, China e-mail: cldu@cigit.ac.cn

C. Sun: R. Shi: C. Li Physics Department, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, People’s Republic of China

In this paper, a method is presented for designing the parameters of metallic nanoparticles introduced into ultra-thin film organic solar cells (OSCs) to improve the light absorption. On the basis of Mie theory, a relationship is setup between the scattering efficiency of localized surface plasmon resonance and the size parameter of metallic nanoparticles, by which metallic nanoparticles with optimal size can be designed to realize the highest ratio of resonant scattering to resonant absorption, thus light absorption enhancement of OSCs is maximized. By taking spherical Ag nanoparticles into an OSC system with an active layer of poly(3-hexylthiophene) and [6, 6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester as subject, light absorption increase of 26 % at an average wavelength of incident light is demonstrated. This design method is also applicable to other types of OSCs