Quasi-static analysis on the solar absorption performance of the semiconductor-metal core-shell nanoparticle
Fitriyadi, Azrul Azwar and Fatimah A. Noor

1Physics of Electronics Material Research Division, Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesa 10, Bandung, Indonesia 40132,

Physics Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Tanjungpura University, Pontianak, Indonesia, 78115

Abstract

In this study, we perform a quasi-static analysis of the light scattering theory to calculate the absorption performance of a core-shell nanoparticle under the solar illumination. This analysis is a good approximation for describing the classical interaction of light and nanoparticle of size much smaller than the incident wavelength. In this limits, the light scattering problem could be simplified by solving the electrostatic boundary condition of the Laplace equation. Specifically, we calculate for Ge and Si as the semiconductor core with the noble metal (Ag, Ag and Cu) as the metallic shell embedded in SiO2 medium. We found that the nanoparticle with the Ag shell exhibits the highest solar absorption performance both for the Si or Ge as the core material. Further, the solar absorption performance of Ge-Ag core-shell nanoparticle is slightly higher than the Si-Ag. Finally, we also found that the solar absorption performance of the semiconductor-metal core-shell nanoparticles increase as the core radius and the shell thickness increase.

Keywords: solar absorption, core-shell nanoparticle, noble metal, quasi-static, Plasmon resonance

Topic: Materials Physics