Effect of Extended Extinction from Gold Nanopillar Arrays on the Absorbance Spectrum of a Bulk Heterojunction Organic Solar Cell

We report on the effects of enhanced absorption/scattering from arrays of Au nanopillars of varied size and spacing on the spectral response of a P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction solar cell. Nanopillar array-patterned devices do show increased optical extinction within a narrow range of wavelengths compared to control samples without such arrays. The measured external quantum efficiency and calculated absorbance, however, both show a decrease near the corresponding wavelengths. Numerical simulations indicate that for relatively narrow nanopillars, the increased optical extinction is dominated by absorption within the nanopillars, rather than scattering, and is likely dissipated by Joule heating.