Refractory plasmonics enabling 20% efficient lead-free perovskite solar cells

Abstract Core-shell refractory plasmonic nanoparticles are used as excellent nanoantennas to improve the efficiency of lead-free perovskite solar cells (PSCs). SiO2 is used as the shell coating due to its high refractive index and low extinction coefficient, enabling the control over the sunlight directivity. An optoelectronic model is developed using 3D finite element method (FEM) as implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics to calculate the optical and electrical parameters of plain and ZrN/SiO2-modified PSCs. For a fair comparison, ZrN-decorated PSCs are also simulated. While the decoration with ZrN nanoparticles boosts the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the PSC from 12.9% to 17%, the use of ZrN/SiO2 core/shell nanoparticles shows an unprecedented enhancement in the PCE to reach 20%. The enhancement in the PCE is discussed in details.