Antireflection Layers for Solar Cells Based on Silicon Nanowires Produced on a Doped Wafer

In this paper, the layers of quantum silicon nanowires produced on highly-doped wafers were studied via the Raman spectroscopy and IR reflection spectroscopy methods. The porosity of layers of different thickness has been determined from IR spectroscopy data using the Bruggeman effective medium model. According to Raman spectroscopy data, the concentration of the free charge carriers in quantum silicon nanowires drops in comparison with that in the wafer. On the basis of these results we conclude that the thickness of a quantum nanowires layer of 2 μm is optimal for its use as an antireflection coating in solar cells. Layers with thicknesses of 10 and 15 μm were studied. It was demonstrated that there is no effect of Raman-scattering enhancement in these layers.