Enhancement of photoelectric conversion efficiency in copper phthalocyanine solar cell: White light excitation of surface plasmon polaritons

Excitation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) in copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) solar cells was achieved by means of a wavelength-scan attenuated total reflection (lambda-scan ATR) method. The action spectra of the solar cell (wavelength dependence of the photocurrent) were measured simultaneously with the lambda-scan ATR spectra for various incident angles. The action spectra were found to exhibit a pronounced peak around 550 nm due to the excitation of SPP. The existence of an optimum incident angle which yields a maximum enhancement of the photoelectric conversion was also found. The enhancement of the conversion efficiency under white light illumination was demonstrated by using a Xe lamp.