Engineering light absorption in single-nanowire solar cells with metal nanoparticles

Semiconductor nanowires (NWs) possess a fascinating ability to efficiently collect and trap light into a sub-wavelength volume due to the occurrence of leaky mode resonances. The same confinement ability is manifested by metal nanostructures thanks to the excitation of surface plasmons. Combining the two systems, we show how light absorption in individual NWs can be spectrally tailored and enhanced by decorating them with metal nanoparticles. This is demonstrated by means of scanning photocurrent measurements on individual NWs and interpreted by full-field simulations.