Wafer thickness optimization for silicon solar cells of heterogeneous material quality

In this Letter, we introduce a method of calculating the optimal wafer thickness for silicon solar cells with multicrystalline bulk material. The optimal thickness depends on the relation of bulk recombination to surface recombination and the light trapping. For multicrystalline silicon bulk recombination strongly varies laterally and with injection level, which complicates the calculations. A thickness optimization using the “Efficiency Limiting Bulk Recombination Analysis” (ELBA) takes all these effects correctly into account. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

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.     

Chebychev Response of Thin Film Optical Filters

The power reflection coefficient (reflectance) of linear, periodically homogenous, isotropic, nonabsorbing stack filters is derived using full wave analysis. The well-known ABCD characteristic matrix is used to assess the spectral response of the stack filters. Adopting this method requires a huge number of matrix multiplications as the number of layers increases. An alternative approach of evaluating the whole matrix is suggested which is shown to save computational time. Band reject response far from ideal characteristics, due to the presence of unwanted ripples surrounding the stopband, is obtained. Equating these ripples without changing the length of the structure is undertaken by varying some design parameters related to the layers constituting the filter. Namely, the index of refraction and the physical thickness of individual layers are used as optimization variables. This process requires evaluating the derivative of the reflectance with respect to each design variable while leaving other parameters unchanged. The sensitivity of the derivatives to various design parameters is also addressed, which is sometimes required in manufacturing multilayered dielectric thin films.     

光管理在晶体硅电池中的应用

光管理是提高晶体硅太阳能电池光吸收和短路电流（Jsc）进而提高转换效率的重要因素之一。本文回顾了最常见的光管理方式,包括表面抗反射、散射以及陷光等。为了降低晶体硅电池的表面反射损失,开发了多种表面抗反射结构。例如,仿生蛾眼结构利用渐变折射率实现了宽光谱低反射率,其表面反射率可达1％以下。随着晶体硅电池衬底减薄,光管理要求更加严格,除了在更宽波长范围内达到超低反射率外,还需要在更高的入射角范围内实现低反射率。此外,利用前表面散射以及背表面陷光结构提高红外光的吸收光程对于晶体硅电池特别是薄衬底晶体硅电池的有效光吸收具有重要意义。     

Buffer layer influence on guiding properties of oxidized porous silicon waveguides

We studied the influence of the thickness and porosity of the buffer layer on the guiding properties of oxidized porous silicon waveguides (OPSWG). It is demonstrated how a modified anodization process acts on the porosity of the final oxidized porous silicon. In this way, it is possible to control the refractive index jump between the core of OPSWG made of compact silicon dioxide and the bottom buffer layer made of porous silicon dioxide. The adoption of a double-step anodization process decreases the propagation losses to 0.5 dB/cm against the 8 dB/cm measured for the waveguide realized using a single-step anodization. The main reason seems not to be the increase of the difference of refractive index values but the more homogeneous buffer layer obtained along the core of the waveguide. This homogeneous layer permits a better lateral confinement of the light as demonstrated by spatial refractive index profile measurement.     

Effect of fabrication parameters on morphological and optical properties of highly doped p-porous silicon

Porous silicon (PS) layers were fabricated by anodization of low resistive (highly doped) p-type silicon in HF/ethanol solution, by varying current density, etching time and HF concentration. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) analyses were used to investigate the physical properties and reflection spectrum was used to investigate the optical behavior of PS layers in different fabrication conditions. Vertically aligned mesoporous morphology is observed in fabricated films and with HF concentration higher than 20%. The dependence of porosity, layer thickness and rms roughness of the PS layer on current density, etching time and composition of electrolyte is also observed in obtained results. Correlation between reflectivity and fabrication parameters was also explored. Thermal oxidation was performed on some mesoporous layers that resulted in changes of surface roughness, mean height and reflectivity of the layers.     

Rugate filter with multi-channel grown by glancing angle deposition

Glancing angle deposition (GLAD) is an effective technique to fabricate thin films with desired nanoscale porosity variations in three dimensions. GLAD can be used to grow rugate filters characterized by a sinusoidal refractive index profile from one single source material through control of film porosity. A multi-stopband rugate filter can be achieved either by introducing a layer of constant index into the center of sinusoidal refractive index profile or by embedding discrete layers of constant refractive index to sinusoidal index profile with the GLAD technique. Transmittance measurements of the one channel filter, formed with titanium dioxide, revealed this method is one of the most valid technologies to fabricate multi-band filters.     

Impact of process factors on the performance of hole array metallic filters

In this work, we evaluate through rigorous coupled-wave analysis simulations the effect of various process-related inaccuracies on plasmonic filters performance, especially regarding cross-shaped-hole arrays. Focusing exclusively on CMOS-compatible materials, we demonstrate the potential of these structures for reliable integration and fabrication at wafer level. A high monitoring of the deposition parameters is required to control the transmission level and the resonant wavelength of the filters. Optical proximity calculations show that double patterning is a way to limit corner rounding and to avoid losing the resonant mode of the crosses. The impacts on plasmon resonances of the metal oxidation, or a sloped profile after metal etching, are evaluated. These results allow for a good anticipation regarding process issues to realize efficient plasmonic filters.     

Multilayer thin-film inspection through measurements of reflection coefficients

A vibration-insensitive interferometer is described to measure the thickness, refraction index and surface profile of thin-film stack at normal incidence. By satisfying the continuous boundary conditions of electric and magnetic fields at interfaces in a multilayer film stack, the reflection coefficient phase of the thin-film stack can be distinguished from the phase of spatial path difference, thus thickness and refraction index can be extracted. The experiment results showed that the measurement precision is significantly increased after the phase analysis was added into the reflectance analysis.     

Photo-pumped lasing from low density self-assembled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots within a high-Q vertical cavity

A high-Q cavity containing three layers of self-assembled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots has been prepared. Emission occurs in the wavelength range 1275–1285 nm over the wafer surface. We have observed lasing thresholds in the power-in-versus-power-out characteristics, with associated changes in the angular emission profile, when the structure is optically pumped CW at 300 K. At high pump powers spectrally resolved lateral modes are seen in the emission spectra of a planar cavity and this is discussed in terms of the index change induced by the pump laser.     

磁控溅射制备横向梯度分布的Mo/Si周期多层膜

 采用磁控溅射方法在Si基板上镀制了横向梯度分布的Mo/Si周期多层膜。以X射线掠入射反射测量了横向梯度多层膜的膜系结构,在基板65 mm长度范围内,多层膜周期从8.21 nm线性减小到6.57 nm,周期梯度为0.03 nm/mm。国家同步辐射实验室反射率计的反射率测试结果表明：该横向梯度分布周期多层膜上不同位置,能反射在13.3~15.9 nm波段范围内不同波长的极紫外光,反射率为60%~65%。     

ZrO2/ SiO2多层膜的化学法制备研究

 分别以ZrOCl₂·8H₂O 和正硅酸乙酯为原料,采用溶胶-凝胶工艺制备了性能稳定的ZrO₂和SiO₂溶胶。用旋转镀膜法分别在K9玻璃和单晶硅片上制备了ZrO₂/ SiO₂多层膜。采用溶剂替换和紫外光处理等手段,有效地解决了ZrO₂/SiO₂多层膜中膜层开裂和膜间渗透等问题。应用扫描电子显微镜观测了薄膜的表面和剖面微观形貌,并用椭偏仪测得薄膜的厚度和折射率,研究了薄膜厚度、折射率与热处理温度、紫外光处理时间的关系,对所获得薄膜的紫外-可见、红外光谱进行了分析。用输出波长1064nm ,脉宽15ns 的电光调Q光系统产生的强激光进行了单层膜的辐照实验,结果发现溶剂替换后激光损伤阈值有所提高。     

Gradient-index narrow-bandpass filter fabricated with glancing-angle deposition

Glancing-angle deposition (GLAD) is a fabrication method capable of producing thin films with engineered nanoscale porosity variations. GLAD can be used to create optical thin-film interference filters from a single source material by modification of the film refractive index through control of film porosity. We present the effects of introducing a layer of constant low density into the center of a rugate thin-film filter fabricated with the GLAD technique. A rugate filter is characterized by a sinusoidal refractive-index profile. Embedding a layer of constant refractive index, with a thickness equal to one period of the rugate index variation, causes a narrow bandpass to appear within the filter's larger stop band. Transmittance measurements of such a gradient-index narrow-bandpass filter, formed with titanium dioxide, revealed an 83% transmittance peak at a vacuum wavelength of 522 nm, near the center of the stop band, with a FWHM bandwidth of 15 nm.     

Optical characterization of porous silicon films and multilayer filters

Porous silicon (PS) has a great potential in optical applications due to the tunability of its refractive index. However, the electrochemical formation parameters of porous silicon have a great influence both on porosity and pore morphology and, hence, on the optical properties of the PS layers. In the present work, the optical constants of PS layers are determined in the visible-wavelength range for different electrolyte compositions and for a wide range of formation-current densities. Thus, the interval of refractive indices that can be achieved for each electrolyte composition is studied, for the further development of interference filters. In particular, it is demonstrated that a higher ethanol concentration in the electrolyte leads to a considerably higher tunability of the refractive index of PS while reducing absorption losses. In addition, the performance of PS-based multilayer interference filters is shown to improve when formed with an electrolyte of higher ethanol concentration, especially in the blue region of the visible spectrum. PACS 78.20.Ci; 78.40.-q; 78.55.Mb     

偏振光谱BRDF建模与仿真

在偏振光条件下,物体的表面反射受到折射率、表面粗糙度、入射角等多种因素的影响。针对粗糙物体表面在不同波段光照下表现出不同的偏振反射特性,提出一种基于Kirchhof理论的偏振光谱BRDF模型。利用已知材质在不同波长下的复折射率,对其折射率和消光系数部分分别反演出的对应光谱模型,进而得到复折射率的光谱模型;同借鉴经典的表面粗糙度测量方法,结合菲涅耳反射公式,推导出表面粗糙度的光谱模型,将得到的复折射率和粗糙度光谱模型与BRDF模型相结合,推导出偏振光谱BRDF建模。模型分别在折射率随波长变化、粗糙度为常量,折射率、粗糙度均随波长变化以及原模型三种情况下进行仿真对比实验,并将所得到的数据与其他资料进行对比。其结果表明,该模型能够较为准确的反映物体表面的偏振反射特性,并且能够描述偏振度随波长变化趋势的光谱特征,能够为偏振遥感、物质分类等方面的应用提供可靠依据。     

含负折射率材料的一维光子晶体的光学传输特性

采用光学传输矩阵方法,模拟研究了由正折射率材料和负折射率材料交替组成的一维光子晶体的光学传输特性.计算了这种含负折射率材料的一维光子晶体的透射谱和色散关系.结果表明,在正入射时,含负折射率材料的光子晶体的带隙要比传统的光子晶体要大得多,并具有狭窄的透射带,从光学薄膜理论的色散关系出发解释了形成上述现象的原因.讨论了在不同的偏振模式下,光以中心波长入射时,反射率随着入射角度的变化关系.发现含负折射率材料的一维光子晶体具有更好的角度特性,可以用来实现对中心波长的全方位反射.     

受限原子蒸气/电介质周期层状结构中光子带隙的厚度调制

周期性受限原子蒸气/电介质层光子带隙（PBG）宽度及其诱导的反射平顶随蒸气层厚度 d的增大而变宽,并在 （ 为原子的共振波长)时达到最大值,之后随d的增大呈变窄趋势. 随着蒸气厚度的增大,带隙的中心频率产生红移,厚度越大,红移量越大. 研究还发现,共振波长处的反射及透射谱具有迪克窄化结构. 这种可调谐的PBGs结构可望用于全光反射镜及滤波器.     

受限原子蒸气/电介质周期层状结构中光子带隙的厚度调制

周期性受限原子蒸气/电介质层光子带隙(PBG)宽度及其诱导的反射平顶随蒸气层厚度d的增大而变宽,并在d/(λ0/2)=0.5(λ0为原子的共振波长)时达到最大值,之后随d的增大呈变窄趋势.随着蒸气厚度的增大,带隙的中心频率产生红移,厚度越大,红移量越大.研究还发现,共振波长处的反射及透射谱具有迪克窄化结构.这种可调谐的PBGs结构可望用于全光反射镜及滤波器.     

Authentication labels based on guided-mode resonant filters

A guided-mode resonance (GMR) filter with wide angular tolerances is experimentally demonstrated as an authentication label illuminated with unpolarized white light. The proposed filter, based on a free-standing silicon nitride membrane suspended on a silicon substrate, is fabricated by using anisotropic wet etching to remove the substrate beneath the silicon nitride layer. Both grating and waveguide structures without a lower cladding layer, i.e., a substrate, are fabricated simultaneously on a silicon nitride membrane. Since the silicon nitride is transparent within the spectra of visible and infrared light, such suspended-membrane-type GMR filters are well suited for applications within the visible spectrum. Moreover, the high refractive index of silicon nitride allows the proposed filters to have strongly modulated gratings and an immunity to high angular deviation. The measured reflection resonance has an angular tolerance up to +/-5 degrees under normal incidence for the wavelength of 629.5 nm.     

Measurement of Refractive Index for High Reflectance Materials with Terahertz Time Domain Reflection Spectroscopy

A method to measure the refractive index for high reflectance materials in the terahertz range with terahertz time domain reflection spectroscopy is proposed. In this method, the THz waveforms reflected by a silicon wafer and high reflectance sample are measured respectively. The refractive index of the silicon wafer, measured with the THz time domain transmission spectroscopy, is used as a reference in the THz time domain reflective spectroscopy. Therefore, the complex refractive index of the sample can be obtained by resorting to the known reflective index of the silicon and the Fresnel law. To improve the accuracy of the phase shift, the Kramers-Kronig transform is adopted. This method is also verified by the index of the silicon in THz reflection spectroscopy. The bulk metal plates have been taken as the sample, and the experimentally obtained metallic refractive indexes are compared with the simple Drude model.