Broadband, wide-angle antireflection in GaAs through surface nano-structuring for solar cell applications

Abstract

We demonstrate broadband and wide-angle antireflective surface nanostructuring in GaAs semiconductors using variable dose electron-beam lithography (EBL). Various designed structures are written with EBL on a positive EB-resist coated GaAs and developed followed by shallow inductively coupled plasma etching. An optimized nanostructured surface shows a reduced surface reflectivity down to less than 2.5% in the visible range of 450–700 nm and an average reflectance of less than 4% over a broad near-infrared wavelength range from 900–1400 nm. The results are obtained over a wide incidence angle of 33.3°. This study shows the potential for anti-reflective structures using a simpler reverse EBL process which can provide optical absorption or extraction efficiency enhancement in semiconductors relevant to improved performance in solar photovoltaics or light-emitting diodes.

Metadata

Authors/Creators:

Behera, S.
Fry, P.W.
Francis, H.
Jin, C.-Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2656-2397
Hopkinson, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8097-6913

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