Enhanced efficiency of carbon based all perovskite tandem solar cells via cubic plasmonic metallic nanoparticles with dielectric nano shells.

This study investigates a carbon-based all-perovskite tandem solar cell (AP-TSC) with the structure ITO, SnO₂, Cs₀.₂FA₀.₈Pb(I₀.₇Br₀.₃)₃, WS₂, MoO₃, ITO, C₆₀, MAPb₀.₅Sn₀.₅I₃, PEDOT: PSS, Carbon. The bandgap configuration of the cell is 1.75 eV/1.17 eV, which is theoretically limited to 36% efficiency. The effectiveness of embedding cubic plasmonic metallic nanoparticles (NPs) made of Gold (Au) and Silver (Ag) within the absorber layers to eliminate the requirement for thicker absorber layers, decrease manufacturing costs and Pb toxicity is demonstrated in our analysis. This analysis was conducted using 3D Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations for both optical and electrical calculations. Prior to delving into the primary investigation of the tandem structure, a validation simulation was conducted to demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of the simulations. Notably, the efficiency mismatch observed during the validation simulation, specifically in relation to the incorporation of metallic nanoparticles (NPs), amounted to a mere 0.01%. To mitigate the potential issues of direct contact between metallic NPs and perovskite materials, such as increased thermal and chemical instability and recombination at the NP surface, a 5 nm dielectric shell was applied to the NPs. The incorporation of cubic core-shell Ag NPs resulted in a 15.32% enhancement in short-circuit current density, from 16.39 mA/cm² to 18.90 mA/cm², and a 15.68% increase in overall efficiency, from 26.9 to 31.12%. This research paves the way for the integration of core-shell metallic NPs in AP-TSCs, highlighting a significant potential for efficiency and stability improvements. In a dedicated section the band alignment of the sub-cell was addressed. Additionally, a thermal investigation of the proposed tandem structure was conducted, demonstrating the robustness of the proposed AP-TSC. Finally, the sensitivity analyses related to input parameters and the challenges associated with large-scale fabrication of the proposed AP-TSC were extensively discussed.