Anti-Reflection Characteristics of Si Nanowires for Enhanced Photoluminescence from CdTe/CdS Quantum Dots

CdTe/CdS quantum dots（QDs） are fabricated on Si nanowires（NWs） substrates with and without Au nanoparticles（NPs）. The formation of Au NPs on Si NWs can be certified as shown in scanning electron microscopy images. The optical properties of samples are also investigated. It is interesting to find that the photoluminescence（PL） intensity of Cd Te/Cd S QD films on Si nanowire substrates with Au NPs is significantly increased,which can reach 8-fold higher than that of samples on planar Si without Au NPs. The results of finite-difference time-domain simulation indicate that Au NPs induce stronger localization of electric field and then boost the PL intensity of QDs nearby. Furthermore, the time-resolved luminescence decay curve shows the PL lifetime, which is about 5.5 ns at the emission peaks of QD films on planar, increasing from 1.8 ns of QD films on Si NWs to4.7 ns after introducing Au NPs into Si NWs.

Microstructure Analysis and Properties of Anti-Reflection Thin Films for Spherical Silicon Solar Cells

Structure and properties of anti-reflection thin films of spherical silicon solar cells were investigated and discussed. Conversion efficiencies of spherical Si solar cells coated with F-doped SnO2 anti-reflection films were improved by annealing. Optical absorption and fluorescence of the solar cells increased after annealing. Lattice constants of F-doped SnO2 anti-reflection layers, which were investigated by X-ray diffraction, decreased after annealing. A mechanism of atomic diffusion of F in SnO2 was discussed. The present work indicated a guideline for spherical silicon solar cells with higher efficiencies.

Ultra-broadband metamaterial absorber using slotted metal loops with multi-layers and its anti-reflection analysis

An ultra-thin and broadband absorber which consists of periodic rings with gaps is proposed in this paper. The periodic rings are printed on the middle metallic layers in a four-layer substrate of total thickness is only 3.4 mm. Simulation results, which are gotten by using finite element method(FEM) and finite-difference time-domain(FDTD), show that the absorption is higher than 90% cover the frequencies range from 7.8 GHz to 22.2 GHz. The measurement results of the absorption agree with simulated ones very well. We also discuss the working mechanism according to the anti-reflection theory in the paper.

Anti-reflection implementations for terahertz waves

Undesired reflection caused by impedance mismatch can lead to significant power loss and other unwanted effects. In the terahertz regime, anti-reflection method has evolved from simple quarter-wave antireflection coating to sophisticated metamaterial device and photonic structures. In this paper, we examined and compared the theories and techniques of several antireflection implementations for terahertz waves, with emphasis on gradient index photonic structures. A comprehensive study is presented on the design, fabrication and evaluation of this new approach.

Preparation of Scratch-Resistant Nano-Porous Silica Films Derived by Sol-Gel Process and Their Anti-reflective Properties

Structural strengthening of the nano porous silica films has been reported. The films were prepared with a base/acid two-step catalyzed TEOS-based sol-gel processing and dip-coating, and then baked in the mixed gas of ammonia and water vapor. The silica films were characterized with TEM, AFM, FTIR, spectrophotometer, ellipsometer, and abrasion test, respectively. The experimental results have shown that the films have a nanostructure with a low refractive index and can form an excellent scratch-resistant broadband anti-reflectance. The two-step catalysis noticeably strengthens the films, and the mixed gas treatment further improves mechanical strength of the silica network. Finally the strengthening mechanism has been discussed.

Carboxylic Acids and Esters as Scaffold for Cavities in Porous Single Layer Anti-Reflective Coatings of Silica-Titania with Excellent Optical and Mechanical Properties

Anti-reflective (AR) single layer of silica-titania (SiO2-TiO2) coatings were obtained from sols containing pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) derivatives and Ti and Si precursors on glass substrate by dip-coating method. The coatings showed very high optical quality and the transmission was improved to up to 98.5%. Furthermore, the coatings also presented good mechanical stability.

Numerical-Experimental Analysis of the Coal Fracture Formation Mechanism Induced by Liquid CO_(2) Explosion

The highly inefficient simultaneous extraction of coal and gas from low-permeability and high-gas coal seams in deep mines is a major problem often restricting the sustainable development of coal industry.A possible way to solve this problem under deep and complex geological conditions is represented by the technology based on the phase-change induced explosion of liquid carbon dioxide.In this work,the mechanism of formation of the coal mass fracture circle resulting from the gas cracking process is theoretically analyzed.Numerical simulations show that a blasting crushing zone with a radius of 1.0 m is formed around the blasting hole.The radius of the sec-ondary expansion zone caused by the exploding gas is 2.0 m,and the extension limit of the explosion fracture is 2.3 m.The gas phase change explosion is influenced by the coal roadway driving face,the gas content index and the analytical index of coal shavings.Experiments conducted for comparison also lead to the conclusion that the initial gas emission is increased by 3.7 times from the 100-meter borehole in the original coal mass after coalbed gas explosion anti-reflection.

Absorption enhancement in thin film a-Si solar cells with double-sided SiO_2 particle layers

Light absorption enhancement is very important for improving the power conversion efficiency of a thin film a-Si solar cell. In this paper, a thin-film a-Si solar cell model with double-sided SiO2 particle layers is designed, and then the underlying mechanism of absorption enhancement is investigated by finite difference time domain（FDTD） simulation;finally the feasible experimental scheme for preparing the SiO2 particle layer is discussed. It is found that the top and bottom SiO2 particle layers play an important role in anti-reflection and light trapping, respectively. The light absorption of the cell with double-sided SiO2 layers greatly increases in a wavelength range of 300 nm-800 nm, and the ultimate efficiency increases more than 22% compared with that of the flat device. The cell model with double-sided SiO2 particle layers reported here can be used in varieties of thin film solar cells to further improve their performances.

High-contrast top-emitting organic light-emitting devices

In this paper we report on a high-contrast top-emitting organic light-emitting device utilizing a moderate-reflection contrast-enhancement stack and a high refractive index anti-reflection layer.The contrast-enhancement stack consists of a thin metal anode layer,a dielectric bilayer,and a thick metal underlayer.The resulting device,with the optimized contrast-enhancement stack thicknesses of Ni（30 nm）/MgF 2（62 nm）/ZnS（16 nm）/Ni（20 nm） and the 25-nm-thick ZnS anti-reflection layer,achieves a luminous reflectance of 4.01% in the visible region and a maximum current efficiency of 0.99 cd/A（at 62.3 mA/cm 2） together with a very stable chromaticity.The contrast ratio reaches 561：1 at an on-state brightness of 1000 cd/m^2 under an ambient illumination of 140 lx.In addition,the anti-reflection layer can also enhance the transmissivity of the cathode and improve light out-coupling by the effective restraint of microcavity effects.

The Effect of Silver-Plating Time on Silicon Nanowires Arrays Fabricated by Wet Chemical Etching Method

MACE (Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching) approach has drawn a lot of attentions due to its ability to create highly light-absorptive silicon surface. This method can generate numerous cylindrical shape microstructure on the surface of silicon like a forest, which is called “silicon nanowires arrays”. This structure can dramatically suppress both reflection and transmission at the wavelength range from 400 nm to near-infrared 1800 nm by increasing the propagation path of light. In this paper, ordered silicon nanowires arrays with a large area are prepared by wet chemical etching. It is demonstrated that the SiNWs (Silicon nanowires) arrays with different morphologies can be fabricated from monocrystalline silicon of a given orientation by changing silver-plating time. Excellent anti-reflection performance in broadband wavelengths and incident angle is obtained. The fabrication method and potential application of such SiNWs in the field of photoelectric detection have great value and can provide reference for further research in this field.

The investigation of DARC etch back in DRAM capacitor oxide mask opening

Opening the silicon oxide mask of a capacitor in dynamic random access memory is a critical process on a capacitive coupled plasma(CCP)etch tool.Three steps,dielectric anti-reflective coating(DARC)etch back,silicon oxide etch and strip,are contained.To acquire good performance,such as low leakage current and high capacitance,for further fabricating capacitors,we should firstly optimize DARC etch back.We developed some experiments,focusing on etch time and chemistry,to evalu-ate the profile of a silicon oxide mask,DARC remain and critical dimension.The result shows that etch back time should be con-trolled in the range from 50 to 60 s,based on the current equipment and condition.It will make B/T ratio higher than 70%mean-while resolve the DARC remain issue.We also found that CH_(2)F_(2) flow should be~15 sccm to avoid reversed CD trend and keep in-line CD.

Contact etch process optimization for RF process wafer edge yield improvement

Radio-frequency(RF)process products suffer from a wafer edge low yield issue,which is induced by contact opening.A failure mechanism has been proposed that is based on the characteristics of a wafer edge film stack.The large step height at the wafer's edge leads to worse planarization for the sparse poly-pattern region during the inter-layer dielectric(ILD)chemical mechanical polishing(CMP)process.A thicker bottom anti-reflect coating(BARC)layer was introduced for a sparse poly-pattern at the wafer edge region.The contact open issue was solved by increasing the break through(BT)time to get a large enough window.Well profile and resistance uniformity were obtained by contact etch recipe optimization.

Thermo-mechanical dynamics of nanoimprinting anti-reflective structures onto small-core mid-IR chalcogenide fibers [Invited]

Thermal nanoimprinting is a fast and versatile method for transferring the anti-reflective properties of subwavelength nanostructures onto the surface of highly reflective substrates, such as chalcogenide glass optical fiber end faces. In this paper, the technique is explored experimentally on a range of different types of commercial and custom-drawn optical fibers to evaluate the influence of geometric design, core/cladding material, and thermo-mechanical properties. Up to32.4% increased transmission and 88.3% total transmission are demonstrated in the 2–4.3 μm band using a mid-infrared(IR) supercontinuum laser.

AlGaInP LEDs with surface anti-reflecting structure

A kind of AlGaInP light emitting diode （LED） with surface anti-reflecting structure has been introduced to solve the problems of low light efficiency and restricted luminous intensity. The new structure can be demonstrated theoretically and experimentally, and LEDs with the new structure have higher on-axis luminous intensity and larger saturation current than conventional LEDs and LEDs with ITO film only, which is caused by higher external quantum efficiency and also higher internal quantum efficiency. The new LEDs are especially suitable for working at large injected currents.

Design and fabrication of broadband ultralow reflectivity black Si surfaces by laser micro/nanoprocessing

Light collection efficiency is an important factor that affects the performance of many optical and optoelectronic devices.In these devices,the high reflectivity of interfaces can hinder efficient light collection.To minimize unwanted reflection,anti-reflection surfaces can be fabricated by micro/nanopatterning.In this paper,we investigate the fabrication of broadband anti-reflection Si surfaces by laser micro/nanoprocessing.Laser direct writing is applied to create microstructures on Si surfaces that reduce light reflection by light trapping.In addition,laser interference lithography and metal assisted chemical etching are adopted to fabricate the Si nanowire arrays.The anti-reflection performance is greatly improved by the high aspect ratio subwavelength structures,which create gradients of refractive index from the ambient air to the substrate.Furthermore,by decoration of the Si nanowires with metallic nanoparticles,surface plasmon resonance can be used to further control the broadband reflections,reducing the reflection to below 1.0%across from 300 to 1200 nm.An average reflection of 0.8%is achieved.

Monolithic crystalline silicon solar cells with SiN_x layers doped with Tb^(3+) and Yb^(3+) rare-earth ions

In this study, we propose the fabrication of monolithic crystalline silicon solar cells with Tb^(3+) and Yb^(3+)-doped silicon nitride(SiN_x) layers by low-cost screen-printing methods. The performances of c-Si solar cells can be enhanced by rare-earth ions doped SiN_x layers via the mechanism of spectrum conversion.These SiN_x doped and codoped thin films were deposited by reactive magnetron co-sputtering and integrated as the antireflection coating layers in c-Si solar cells. The characterizations of SiN_x, SiN_x:Tb^(3+) tand SiN_x:Tb^(3+)-Yb^(3+) thin films were conducted by means of photoluminescence, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, Ellipsometry spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared measurements. Their composition and refractive index was optimized to obtain good anti-reflection coating layer for c-Si solar cells.Transmission electron microscopy performs the uniform coatings on the textured emitter of c-Si solar cells. After the metallization process, we demonstrate monolithic c-Si solar cells with spectrum conversion layers, which lead to a relative increase by 1.34% in the conversion efficiency.

Integration of silicon nanowires in solar cell structure for efficiencyenhancement: A review

Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are a one-dimensional semiconductor, which shows promising applications indistinct areas such as photocatalysis, lithium-ion batteries, gas sensors, medical diagnostics, drug delivery,and solar cell. From an implementation point of view, SiNWs are fabricated using either a topdownor bottom-up approach, and SiNWs are both optically and electronically active. SiNWs enhancesthe efficiency of the solar cell due to better electronic, optical, and physical properties that can becontrolled by tuning the physical dimensions of SiNWs. The SiNWs shows an inherent capability to beutilized in radial or coaxial p-n junction solar cells, to stipulate orthogonal photon absorption, antireflection,and enhanced carrier collection. This paper reviews property-control of SiNWs, theirvarious types of incorporation in a solar cell, and the reasons behind enhanced efficiency.

Magnetron sputtered Dy2O3 with chromium and copper contents for antireflective thin films with enhanced absorption

Dy2O3 is a rare earth oxide having a number of advanced applications in various fields including protective or antireflective coatings,Main objective of this novel research work is to check the effect of Cr and Cu addition on different properties of Dy2O3 and achievement of antireflective thin films with enhanced abso rption.Thin films of these materials we re deposited using DC magnetron with reactive cosputtering.XRD studies reveals the crystalline nature of thin films having Dy2O3(222)reflection in all samples with Cr2O3(116)and CuO(111)reflections in Cr and Cu containing compositions.Field emission scanning electron microscopy demonstrates the homogeneous deposition of thin films with uniform shape,size and distribution of grains.Refractive index,extinction coefficient and absorption coefficient significantly increase while optical reflectance decreases with Cr and Cu mediation corroborating an improved antireflective mechanism.The imaginary part of dielectric constant is found to increase slightly with low tangent loss for Cr containing composition co nsidered favorable for energy storage applications.

Optical and electrical properties of porous silicon layer formed on the textured surface by electrochemical etching

Porous silicon （PS） layers were formed on textured crystalline silicon by electrochemical etching in HF- based electrolyte. Optical and electrical properties of the TMAH textured surfaces with PS formation are studied. Moreover, the influences of the initial structures and the anodizing time on the optical and electrical properties of the surfaces after PS formation are investigated. The results show that the TMAH textured surfaces with PS formation present a dramatic decrease in reflectance. The longer the anodizing time is, the lower the reflectance. Moreover, an initial surface with bigger pyramids achieved lower reflectance in a short wavelength range. A minimum reflectance of 3.86% at 460 nm is achieved for a short anodizing time of 2 min. Furthermore, the reflectance spectrum of the sample, which was etched in 3 vol.% TMAH for 25 min and then anodized for 20 min, is extremely flat and lies between 3.67% and 6.15% in the wavelength range from 400 to 1040 nm. In addition, for a short anodizing time, a slight increase in the effective carrier lifetime is observed. Our results indicate that PS layers formed on a TMAH textured surface for a short anodization treatment can be used as both broadband antireflection coatings and passivation layers for the application in solar cells.

Indium tin oxide-free inverted polymer solar cells with ultrathin metal transparent electrodes

Efficient indium tin oxide （ITO）-free inverted polymer solar cells （PSCs） were fabricated by applying ultrathin metal transparent electrodes as sunlight incident electrodes. Smooth and continuous Ag film of 4 nm thickness was developed through the introduction of a 2 nm Au seed layer. Ultrathin Ag transparent electrode with an average transmittance of up to 80% from 480 to 680 nm and a sheet resistance of 35.4Ω/sq was obtained through the introduction of a ZnO anti-reflective layer. The ultrathin metal electrode could be directly used as cathode in polymer solar cells without oxygen plasma treatment. ITO-free inverted PSCs obtained a power conversion efficiency （PCE） of 5.2% by utilizing the ultrathin metal transparent electrodes. These results demonstrated a simple method of fabricating ITO-free inverted PSCs.