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Lenardi C, Mayer J, Faraone G, Cardoso J, Marom S, Modi R, Podestà A, Kadkhodazadeh S, Di Vece M. Nanoscale-Induced Formation of Silicide around Gold Nanoparticles Encapsulated in a-Si. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2020; 36:939-947. [PMID: 31913638 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.9b02993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Decorating thin-film solar cells with plasmonic nanoparticles is being pursued in order to improve device efficiency through increased scattering and local field enhancement. Gold nanoparticles are particularly interesting due to their chemical inertness and plasmon resonance in the visible range of the spectrum. In this work, gold nanoparticles fabricated by a gas aggregation nanoparticle source and embedded in a-Si (a commercial solar cell material) are studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, electron energy-loss spectroscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The formation of gold silicide around the nanoparticles is investigated, as it has important consequences for the optical and electronic properties of the structures. Different from previous studies, in which the silicide formation is observed for gold nanoparticles and thin films grown on top of crystalline silicon or silica, it is found that silicide formation is largely enhanced around the nanoparticles, owing to their increased surface/volume ratio. A detailed gold silicide formation mechanism is presented based on the results, and strategies for optimizing the design of plasmonically enhanced solar cells with gold nanoparticles encapsulated in a-Si are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Lenardi
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces (CIMaINa) and Physics Department "Aldo Pontremoli" , University of Milan , Via Celoria 16 , Milan 20133 , Italy
| | - Justin Mayer
- DTU Nanolab , Technical University of Denmark , Kongens Lyngby DK-2800 , Denmark
| | - Gabriele Faraone
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces (CIMaINa) and Physics Department "Aldo Pontremoli" , University of Milan , Via Celoria 16 , Milan 20133 , Italy
| | - Jonathan Cardoso
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces (CIMaINa) and Physics Department "Aldo Pontremoli" , University of Milan , Via Celoria 16 , Milan 20133 , Italy
| | - Sarita Marom
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces (CIMaINa) and Physics Department "Aldo Pontremoli" , University of Milan , Via Celoria 16 , Milan 20133 , Italy
| | - Ritika Modi
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces (CIMaINa) and Physics Department "Aldo Pontremoli" , University of Milan , Via Celoria 16 , Milan 20133 , Italy
| | - Alessandro Podestà
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces (CIMaINa) and Physics Department "Aldo Pontremoli" , University of Milan , Via Celoria 16 , Milan 20133 , Italy
| | - Shima Kadkhodazadeh
- DTU Nanolab , Technical University of Denmark , Kongens Lyngby DK-2800 , Denmark
| | - Marcel Di Vece
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces (CIMaINa) and Physics Department "Aldo Pontremoli" , University of Milan , Via Celoria 16 , Milan 20133 , Italy
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Lu ZH, Griffiths K, Norton PR, Sham TK. Stabilities of different hydrides at the Au/hydrogenated-Si interface. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER 1991; 44:5648-5650. [PMID: 9998405 DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.44.5648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/12/2023]
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