Theoretical Studies of Plasmonic Effects in Organic Solar Cells

The book chapter provides a systematic study on plasmonic effects in organic solar cells (OSCs). We first introduce the concepts, significance, and recent progress of OSCs incorporating plasmonic nanostructures. On the basis of unique features of OSCs, we exploit versatile resonance mechanisms acting on the absorption enhancement of OSCs; for example, Fabry-Pérot mode, quasi-guided mode, and plasmonic mode. Next, we present rigorous theoretical models to characterize optical properties of OSCs. The key physical quantities, as well as the pros and cons of different models, are described in detail. After that, we show some theoretical results to unveil the fundamental and device physics of plasmonic effects in typical OSC structures. Finally, we conclude the chapter and identify future opportunities in this field. W. E. I. Sha (&) W. C. H. Choy W. C. Chew Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China e-mail: [email protected] W. C. H. Choy e-mail: [email protected] W. C. Chew e-mail: [email protected] W. C. Chew Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA W. C. H. Choy (ed.), Organic Solar Cells, Green Energy and Technology, DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4471-4823-4_7, Springer-Verlag London 2013 177