Large-Area Nanosphere Self-Assembly by a Micro-Propulsive Injection Method for High Throughput Periodic Surface Nanotexturing

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• 作者：Pingqi Gao ; Jian He ; Suqiong Zhou ; Xi Yang ; Sizhong Li ; Jiang Sheng ; Dan Wang ; Tianbao Yu ; Jichun Ye ; Yi Cui
• 刊名：Nano Letters
• 出版年：2015
• 出版时间：July 8, 2015
• 年：2015
• 卷：15
• 期：7
• 页码：4591-4598
• 全文大小：564K
• ISSN：1530-6992

文摘

A high throughput surface texturing process for optical and optoelectric devices based on a large-area self-assembly of nanospheres via a low-cost micropropulsive injection (MPI) method is presented. The novel MPI process enables the formation of a well-organized monolayer of hexagonally arranged nanosphere arrays (NAs) with tunable periodicity directly on the water surface, which is then transferred onto the preset substrates. This process can readily reach a throughput of 3000 wafers/h, which is compatible with the high volume photovoltaic manufacturing, thereby presenting a highly versatile platform for the fabrication of periodic nanotexturing on device surfaces. Specifically, a double-sided grating texturing with top-sided nanopencils and bottom-sided inverted-nanopyramids is realized in a thin film of crystalline silicon (28 渭m in thickness) using chemical etching on the mask of NAs to significantly enhance antireflection and light trapping, resulting in absorptions nearly approaching the Lambertian limit over a broad wavelength range of 375鈥?000 nm and even surpassing this limit beyond 1000 nm. In addition, it is demonstrated that the NAs can serve as templates for replicas of three-dimensional conformal amorphous silicon films with significantly enhanced light harvesting. The MPI induced self-assembly process may provide a universal and cost-effective solution for boosting light utilization, a problem of crucial importance for ultrathin solar cells.