Recent advances in antireflective surfaces based on nanostructure arrays

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Abstract

This review summarizes recent advances in the fabrication, performance, and applications of antireflective surfaces based on nanostructure arrays (NSAs) of silicon and non-silicon materials. The remaining challenges in NSA-based antireflective surfaces are also discussed.

Abstract

Reducing the reflection and improving the transmission or absorption of light from wide angles of incidence in a broad wavelength range are crucial for enhancing the performance of the optical, optoelectronic, and electro-optical devices. Inspired by the structures of the insect compound eyes, nanostructure arrays (NSAs) have been developed as effective antireflective surfaces, which exhibit promising broadband and quasi-omnidirectional antireflective properties together with multifunctions. This review summarizes the recent advances in the fabrication and performance of antireflective surfaces based on NSAs of a wide variety of materials including silicon and non-silicon materials. The applications of the NSA-based antireflective surfaces in solar cells, light emitting diodes, detection, and imaging are highlighted. The remaining challenges along with future trends in NSA-based antireflective surfaces are also discussed.

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Optical absorption enhancement in amorphous silicon nanowire and nanocone arrays.

Jia Zhu, Zongfu Yu, George F Burkhard … (2009)

Hydrogenated amorphous Si (a-Si:H) is an important solar cell material. Here we demonstrate the fabrication of a-Si:H nanowires (NWs) and nanocones (NCs), using an easily scalable and IC-compatible process. We also investigate the optical properties of these nanostructures. These a-Si:H nanostructures display greatly enhanced absorption over a large range of wavelengths and angles of incidence, due to suppressed reflection. The enhancement effect is particularly strong for a-Si:H NC arrays, which provide nearly perfect impedance matching between a-Si:H and air through a gradual reduction of the effective refractive index. More than 90% of light is absorbed at angles of incidence up to 60 degrees for a-Si:H NC arrays, which is significantly better than NW arrays (70%) and thin films (45%). In addition, the absorption of NC arrays is 88% at the band gap edge of a-Si:H, which is much higher than NW arrays (70%) and thin films (53%). Our experimental data agree very well with simulation. The a-Si:H nanocones function as both absorber and antireflection layers, which offer a promising approach to enhance the solar cell energy conversion efficiency.