Single-layer antireflection coatings for GaAs solar cells

Optimal parameters of antireflection coatings for GaAs solar cells are simulated and calculated by the optical matrix approach method. It is shown that by using single-layer Ta₂O₅ and ITO antireflection coatings it is possible to reduce essentially the reflectance from the surface of GaAs solar cells.     

Colloidal subwavelength nanostructures for antireflection optical coatings

A two-dimensional (2D) subwavelength nanostructure for antireflection coating is fabricated upon a transparent substrate. Self-assembled 2D colloidal crystals are used as a nanoscale composite material with controlled thickness and low refractive index. The feature size of the structure is approximately 105 nm. The structure is used for antireflection coating, and the measured reflectivity of a glass substrate is reduced to 0.3%. Enhanced transmission through the substrate is also observed.     

Investigation on antireflection coatings for Al:ZnO in silicon thin-film solar cells

We numerically investigate the role of antireflection (AR) coatings, composed of SiO₂ and/or ZnO, in suppression of interfacial reflections in the presence of the transparent conducting oxide, Al-doped ZnO (AZO). Three structures are simulated: (a) AR coatings in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and flat panel displays, (b) AR coating located between the glass and the AZO, and (c) same as the case b except the involvement of another AR coating between the AZO and the amorphous silicon layers. The weighted average transmittance according to the AM1.5 solar spectrum, the photovoltaic transmittance (T_pv), suggests that there is no evident difference between the structures a and b, especially when the layer number of AR coatings is less than three. An effective way to improve T_pv is presented in the structure c, where T_pv is increased from 73.54% to 76.32% with a three-layered AR coating located between AZO and a-Si. It implies that the suppression of interfacial reflections, resulting from the considerable mismatch of refractive indices at the interface of AZO and a-Si, would benefit the efficiency improvement of silicon thin-film solar cells.     

Similarity of optical properties of hydrides and semiconductors for antireflection coatings

The electronic structure and optical properties of the complex hydrides Ca₂FeH₆, Ca₂RuH₆, Mg₂FeH₆, Mg₂RuH₆, Sr₂FeH₆, Sr₂RuH₆ and Sr₂OsH₆ were studied using first-principles calculations. Optical spectra of the hydrides were compared with those of SiN _x , In₂O₃ and ZnO determined from theoretical calculations and measured experimentally. Based on an analysis of band structure, it is found that the electrical conductivity of the hydrides is expected to be poor. However, optical properties of the hydrides in the energy range 0–3 eV are found to be almost the same as those of SiN _x , In₂O₃, ZnO and TiO₂. Hydrides are suggested to be used as antireflection layers and for passivation of surface and bulk defects. This finding could be useful for electronic device technology including solar cells.     

Surface profile optimization of antireflection gratings for solar cells

The solar cell efficiency can be improved by antireflection gratings. In this paper, the antireflection gratings with different symmetrical surface profiles are investigated by numerical simulations based on the Rigorous Coupled-Wave Analysis. Simulated results show that the antireflection performance of sharp profile such as quadratic profile has a significant improvement compared with triangular and parabolic profiles, while the top cutoff in the grating tip will severely influence the antireflection performance. Meanwhile, proper length of flat region between grating features in the nonclose-packed triangular antireflection grating can have better antireflection performance than the close-packed counterpart for the same grating period and height. Such antireflection gratings with different surface profiles may offer attractive solutions to current commercial silicon solar cell, as well as organic and other semiconductor material based solar cells.     

Aging effect of optical properties on low loss antireflection coatings for laser optics

For high precise laser systems like laser gyro, gravitational waves interferometers, the optical components which lie in the cavity or laser path need to control the total loss, scattering, reflection, absorption, and so on. Low loss high-reflection （HR） and antireflection （AR） coating mirrors are their key components and their aging optical properties are the most important performance parameters for long operating lifetime. Low loss AR coatings on quartz substrates for He-Ne laser are designed and manufactured by ion beam sputtering （IBS） technology. Ta205 and SiO2 are used as high and low refractive index materials and the obtained total optical loss of AIR coating is less than 50 ppm. Aging optical properties of AR coatings are investigated as a function of time placed in the air. When the placed time exceeds 40 days, optical properties tend to be stabilization. The obtained results indicate that the prepared low loss AR coatings have good stability of optical properties and can be applied for high precise laser systems.     

Fabrication of broadband antireflection coatings using broadband optical monitoring mixed with time monitoring

Multi-layer optical coatings with complex spectrum requirements, such as multi-band pass filters, notch filters, and ultra-broadband antireflection coating, which usually contain very thin layers and sensitive layers, are difficult to be fabricated using a quartz crystal monitoring method or a single wavelength optical monitoring system(SWLOMS). In this paper, a broadband antireflection(AR) coating applied in the wavelength range from 800 nm to 1800 nm was designed and deposited by ion beam sputtering(IBS). Ta_2O_5 and Si O_2 were chosen as high and low refractive index coating materials,respectively. The optimized coating structure contains 9 non-quarter-wave(QW) layers totally with ultra-thin layers and sensitive layers in this coating stack. In order to obtain high transmittance, it is very important to realize the thickness accurate control on these thin layers and sensitive layers. A broadband optical monitoring mixed with time monitoring strategy was successfully used to control the layer thickness during the deposition process. At last, the measured transmittance of AR coating is quite close to the theoretical value. A 0.6% variation in short wavelength edge across the central 180 mm diameter is demonstrated. A spectrum shift of less than 0.5% for 2 continuous runs is also presented.     

193 nm氟化物增透膜的特性

 为了研制低损耗、高性能的193 nm氟化物增透膜,研究了基底和不同氟化物材料组合对氟化物增透膜的影响。在熔石英基底上,将挡板法和预镀层技术相结合,采用热舟蒸发方式制备了不同氟化物材料组合增透膜,对增透膜的剩余反射率和光学损耗等光学特性,以及表面粗糙度和应力等特性进行了测量和比较。在分析比较和优化的基础上,设计制备的3层1/4波长规整膜系AlF3/LaF3增透膜在193 nm的剩余反射率低于0.14%,单面镀膜增透膜的透射率为93.85%,增透膜表面均方根粗糙度为0.979 nm,总的损耗约为6％。要得到高性能的193 nm增透膜,应选用超级抛光基底。     

193 nm氟化物增透膜的特性

为了研制低损耗、高性能的193 nm氟化物增透膜,研究了基底和不同氟化物材料组合对氟化物增透膜的影响。在熔石英基底上,将挡板法和预镀层技术相结合,采用热舟蒸发方式制备了不同氟化物材料组合增透膜,对增透膜的剩余反射率和光学损耗等光学特性,以及表面粗糙度和应力等特性进行了测量和比较。在分析比较和优化的基础上,设计制备的3层1/4波长规整膜系AlF3/LaF3增透膜在193 nm的剩余反射率低于0.14%,单面镀膜增透膜的透射率为93.85%,增透膜表面均方根粗糙度为0.979 nm,总的损耗约为6％。要得到高性能的193 nm增透膜,应选用超级抛光基底。     

Silicon solar cells with Al2O3 antireflection coating

The paper presents the possibility of using Al₂O₃ antireflection coatings deposited by atomic layer deposition ALD. The ALD method is based on alternate pulsing of the precursor gases and vapors onto the substrate surface and then chemisorption or surface reaction of the precursors. The reactor is purged with an inert gas between the precursor pulses. The Al₂O₃ thin film in structure of the finished solar cells can play the role of both antireflection and passivation layer which will simplify the process. For this research 50×50 mm monocrystalline silicon solar cells with one bus bar have been used. The metallic contacts were prepared by screen printing method and Al₂O₃ antireflection coating by ALD method. Results and their analysis allow to conclude that the Al₂O₃ antireflection coating deposited by ALD has a significant impact on the optoelectronic properties of the silicon solar cell. For about 80 nm of Al₂O₃ the best results were obtained in the wavelength range of 400 to 800 nm reducing the reflection to less than 1%. The difference in the solar cells efficiency between with and without antireflection coating was 5.28%. The LBIC scan measurements may indicate a positive influence of the thin film Al₂O₃ on the bulk passivation of the silicon.     

An effective reflectance method for designing broadband antireflection films coupled with solar cells

The solar spectrum covers a broad wavelength range,which requires that antireflection coating(ARC) is effective over a relatively wide wavelength range for more incident light coming into the cell.In this paper,we present two methods to measure the composite reflection of SiO2/ZnS double-layer ARC in the wavelength ranges of 300-870 nm(dualjunction) and 300-1850 nm(triple-junction),under the solar spectrum AM0.In order to give sufficient consideration to the ARC coupled with the window layer and the dispersion effect of the refractive index of each layer,we use multidimensional matrix data for reliable simulation.A comparison between the results obtained from the weighted-average reflectance(WAR) method commonly used and that from the effective-average reflectance(EAR) method introduced here shows that the optimized ARC through minimizing the effective-average reflectance is convenient and available.     

An effective reflectance method for designing broadband antireflection films coupled with solar cells

The solar spectrum covers a broad wavelength range, which requires that antireflection coating (ARC) is effective over a relatively wide wavelength range for more incident light coming into the cell. In this paper, we present two methods to measure the composite reflection of SiO₂/ZnS double-layer ARC in the wavelength ranges of 300-870 nm (dual-junction) and 300-1850 nm (triple-junction), under the solar spectrum AM0. In order to give sufficient consideration to the ARC coupled with the window layer and the dispersion effect of the refractive index of each layer, we use multi-dimensional matrix data for reliable simulation. A comparison between the results obtained from the weighted-average reflectance (WAR) method commonly used and that from the effective-average reflectance (EAR) method introduced here shows that the optimized ARC through minimizing the effective-average reflectance is convenient and available.     

Wide-angle and broadband graded-refractive-index antireflection coatings

The design and fabrication of graded-refractive-index (GRIN) antireflection (AR) coatings with wide-angle and broadband characteristics are demonstrated. The optimization of the graded-index profiles with a genetic algorithm is used in the design of the GRIN AR coatings. The average reflectance over a wavelength range from 400 nm to 800 nm and angles of incidence from 0° to 80° could be reduced to only 0.1% by applying an optimized AR coating onto BK7 glass. The optimization of step-graded GRIN AR coating is then further investigated in detail. A two-layer AR coating was deposited by electron beam evaporation with glancing angle deposition technology, and the positional homogeneity was improved by depositing the film from two opposite directions. The microstructure of the AR coating was investigated by scanning electron microscopy, and the residual reflectances of the coating sample are in agreement with theoretical calculations. The optimized GRIN AR coatings are beneficial to increasing the efficiency of light utilization.     

Anisotropic antireflection coatings: design and fabrication

We discuss the design and fabrication of coatings that are antireflecting for p -polarized light at normal incidence and are purposely reflecting for s -polarized light. A single birefringent material, such as obliquely deposited zirconium oxide, forms the layers of the coating. Typical experimental results for a six-layer zirconium oxide anisotropic antireflection coating are R(p) = 0.2% and R(s) = 4.9%. Potential applications of the coatings include polarization-selection devices for lasers.     

Formation of antireflection nanostructure for silicon solar cells using catalysis of single nano-sized silver particle

Antireflection nanostructure was formed by simple wet chemical etching using catalysis of silver (Ag) nanoparticle. Single nano-sized Ag particle dispersion solution was coated onto Si(1 0 0) substrate with polished surface. Then, the samples were soaked in an aqueous etching solution of hydrofluoric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The surface of 9-min-etched Si substrate appeared black, and the reflectivity was reduced to below 5% throughout the entire spectrum from 200 to 1000 nm owing to the formed nanostructure. The absorption was significantly increased after the formation of antireflection structure with 9 min etching, and the conversion efficiency of solar cell with antireflection structure increased from 8.25 to 10.0% owing to the increase of short-circuit current.     

High-efficiency multipass optical limiter

We report experimental results on a highly efficient optical limiter that uses a three-mirror, multipass ring configuration. The optical limiter's enhanced performance is based on the accumulative effect that is achieved when the laser beam passes through the sample several consecutive times. Its feasibility was demonstrated for media with different limiting action processes, namely, reverse saturable absorption, nonlinear scattering, and thermal lensing. We employed a frequency-doubled, Q-switched, 10-ns Nd:YAG laser operating at a 5-Hz repetition rate.     

High-efficiency,high-speed VCSELs for optical interconnects

High-efficiency, high-speed, tapered-oxide-apertured vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) emitting at 980 nm have been demonstrated. By carefully engineering the tapered oxide aperture, the mode volume can be greatly reduced without adding much optical scattering loss for the device sizes of interest. Consequently, these devices can achieve higher bandwidth at lower current and power dissipation. In addition, the parasitics are reduced by implementing deep oxidation layers and an improved p-doping scheme in the top mirror. Our devices show modulation bandwidth exceeding 20 GHz, a record for 980 nm VCSELs. Moreover, 35 Gb/s operation has been achieved at only 10 mW power dissipation. This corresponds to a data-rate/power-dissipation ratio of 3.5 Gbps/mW. Most importantly, our device structure is compatible with existing manufacturing processes and can be easily manufactured in large volume making them attractive for optical interconnects.     

Influence of deposition conditions on the antireflection properties of diamond-like carbon films for Si-based solar cells

The influence of deposition conditions on the antireflection properties of diamond-like carbon films for Si-based solar cells is studied theoretically. The values of the short-circuit current density for Si solar cells covered by diamond-like carbon films deposited at different concentrations of nitrogen in the gas mixture are calculated and compared with the associated values for uncovered solar cells. It is shown that the short-circuit current density increases with nitrogen concentration in the gas mixture because of a lower light absorption by the growing film. Optimum thicknesses of the diamond-like carbon films are calculated that provides a maximal increase in the output short-circuit current density of Si-based solar cells under both AM1.5 and AM0 conditions. Published in Russian in Zhurnal Tekhnicheskoĭ Fiziki, 2006, Vol. 76, No. 5, pp. 122–126. The article was translated by the authors.