Fabrication and Configuration Development of Silicon Nitride Sub-Wavelength Structures for Solar Cell Application
To replace the double layer antireflection coating and improve the efficiency of solar cell, a self assembled nickel nano particle mask followed by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) ion etching method is proposed to form the sub-wavelength structures (SWS) on silicon nitride (Si3N4)
antireflection coating layers instead of semiconductor layer. The size and density of nickel nano particles can be controlled by the initial thickness of nickel film that is annealed to form the nano-particles on the Si3N4 film deposited on the silicon substrate. ICP
etching time is responsible for controlling the height of the fabricated Si3N4 SWS on silicon substrate, which is seen from our experiment. It is found that the lowest average reflectivity of 3.12% for wavelength ranging from 350 to 1000 nm is achieved when the diameter
and height of the SWS are 120–180 nm and 150–160 nm, respectively. A low reflectance below 1% is observed over the wavelength from 590 to 680 nm for the fabricated Si3N4 SWS on silicon subs. The efficiency of Si3N4 SWS could be improved
by 1.31%, compared with the single layer anti-reflection (SLAR) coatings of Si3N4, using PC1D program. The results of this study may benefit the fabrication of solar cells.
Keywords: ANTIREFLECTION COATING; EFFICIENCY; INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA; OPTIMAL DESIGN; REFLECTANCE; SILICON NITRIDE; SIMULATION; SUB-WAVELENGTH STRUCTURE
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 September 2010
- Journal for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (JNN) is an international and multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal with a wide-ranging coverage, consolidating research activities in all areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology into a single and unique reference source. JNN is the first cross-disciplinary journal to publish original full research articles, rapid communications of important new scientific and technological findings, timely state-of-the-art reviews with author's photo and short biography, and current research news encompassing the fundamental and applied research in all disciplines of science, engineering and medicine.
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