Executive Summary : | Solar cells with low production costs and high efficiency are crucial for large-scale fabrication. Wide band gap semiconductors have gained attention for photovoltaic applications due to their long photon absorption path length and short carrier collection and transport distance. The incorporation of metal nanoparticles (NPs) in solar cells can increase charge separation efficiency due to the large scattering cross section associated with surface plasmon. Recently, 14.2% enhancement in GaAs solar cells incorporated with Ag film was observed. Increases of 10-15% in photovoltaic cell efficiency have been achieved by incorporating Au and Ag NPs on the cell surface. The bandgap of the semiconductor affects the height of the semiconductor-metal Schottky barrier and the density of available states in the conduction band, which affects the efficiency of the hot-electron injection process. Good alignment of the Fermi level of plasmonic nanostructures with the bands of semiconductor is important for efficient carrier injection. Synthesizing such plasmonic compounds with tuned bandgap, hybridized with noble metal NPs and graphene film, is a challenging task. The proposed work aims to synthesize wide bandgap oxides such as ZnO, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) thin films, and oxide-metal composites based hybrid nanostructures for plasmonic solar cell application. These materials have interesting electrical and electronic structural properties, making them suitable for various applications such as solar cells, storage, and sensors. The study will focus on optimizing experimental conditions and parameters for high efficiency hybrid nanostructures. |