Thin-film solar cells are able to produce low-cost energy without greenhouse gas emissions. In order to increase devices performance, we investigate the impact of metallic nanostructures (NSs) integrated in organic solar cells (OSC). These NSs can generate scattering effects and surface plasmon resonances. Using FDTD modeling, we demonstrate that plasmon engineering can be used to increase light absorption in a photoactive material while minimizing the energy lost as heat in the NSs. The influence of opto-geometrical parameters of plasmonic structures in organic material is investigated (diameter, position of particles in the layer and period of spherical particles array). Experimentally, silver NSs are deposited by evaporation and incorporated into an organic layer. We measured an optical absorption enhancement in the spectral range useful for photo-conversion. Three different architectures of plasmonic OSC are fabricated and characterized by SEM, TEM and ToF-SIMS, then modeled, allowing us to identify some technological obstacles and to propose possible improvements. We also integrated NSs inside a transparent and conductive multilayer stack composed of oxide/metal/oxide, in the aim of replacing the traditional indium tin oxide electrode of a OSC. The role of each layer of the stack on the electrode optical behavior is discussed. Layers thicknesses of a ZnO/Ag/ZnO electrode were optimized.
