Abstract
The ability to maximize the reflectance losses due to silicon is of paramount importance in the design, fabrication, and operation of silicon solar cells. Optimally designed antireflection coatings are required to improve photon collection in solar cells. For efficient performance, solar cells need to have low reflectance and high absorptance in the visible to near-infrared region. In this study, reflectance due to varying thicknesses of various dielectrics such as aluminum oxide (Al2O3), silicon dioxide (SiO2), titanium dioxide (TiO2), magnesium fluoride (MgF2), and silicon nitride (Si3N4) has been simulated in the range of visible to near infrared by mathematical modelling using MATLAB simulations. The results of the evolution of spectral properties, as a function of dielectric material thickness, on silicon substrates are presented.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Zhao J, Wang A, Green MA (1994) Double layer antireflection coating for high-efficiency passivated emitter silicon solar cells. IEEE Trans Electron Devices 41(9):1592–1594. https://doi.org/10.1109/16.310110
Raut HK, Ganesh VA, Nair AS, Ramakrishna S (2011) Anti-reflective coatings: A critical, in-depth review. Energy Environ Sci 4(10):3779–3804. https://doi.org/10.1039/C1EE01297E
Eshavarz Hedayati M, Elbahri M (2016) Antireflective coatings: conventional stacking layers and ultrathin plasmonic metasurfaces a mini-review. Materials 9(6):497. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma9060497
Rajan G, Karki S, Collins RW, Podraza NJ, Marsillac S (2020) Real-time optimization of anti-reflective coatings for CIGS solar cells. Materials (Basel, Switzerland) 13(19):4259. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13194259
Kaminski PM, Lisco F, Walls JM (2014) Multilayer broadband antireflective coatings for more efficient thin film CdTe solar cells. IEEE J Photovolt 4(1):452–456. https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2013.2284064
Richards BS (2004) Comparison of TiO2 and other dielectric coatings for buried-contact solar cells: a review. Prog Photovolt: Res Appl 12:253–281. https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.529
Chen Z, Sana P, Salami J, Rohatgi A (1993) A novel and effective PECVD SiO/sub 2//SiN antireflection coating for Si solar cells. IEEE Trans Electron Devices 40(6):1161–1165. https://doi.org/10.1109/16.214744
Wuu D-S, Lin C-C, Chen C-N, Lee H-H, Huang J-J (2015) Properties of double-layer Al2O3/TiO2 antireflection coatings by liquid phase deposition. Thin Solid Films 584:248–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2015.01.042
Sikder U, Zaman MA (2016) Optimization of multilayer antireflection coating for photovoltaic applications. Opt Laser Technol 79:88–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optlastec.2015.11.011
Abeles F (1948) Transmission of light by a system of alternate layers C. R Acad Sci 226:1808
Hebb JP, Jensen KF (1996) The effect of multilayer patterns on thermal stress during rapid thermal processing. MRS Online Proc Libr 429(1):43–49. https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-429-43
Storn R, Price K (1995) Differential evolution—a simple and efficient adaptive scheme for global optimization over continuous spaces
Dupoisot H, Morizet J (1979) Thin film coatings: algorithms for the determination of reflectance and transmittance, and their derivatives. Appl Opt 18(15):2701–2704. https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.18.002701
Shanmugam N, Pugazhendhi R, Madurai Elavarasan R, Kasiviswanathan P, Das N (2020) Anti-reflective coating materials: a holistic review from PV perspective. Energies 13(10):2631. MDPI AG. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en13102631
Leqi L, Ravindra NM (2020) Simulation of optical properties of semiconductor multilayers from extreme ultraviolet to far infrared. Mater Sci Eng 4(5):131–137. https://doi.org/10.15406/mseij.2020.04.00139
Bhandari KP, Lamichhane A, Maenle T, Bastola E, Ellingson RJ (2019) Optical properties of organic inorganic metal halide perovskite for photovoltaics. In: 2019 IEEE 46th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), Chicago, IL, USA, pp 0359–0362. https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC40753.2019.8981333
Honsberg CB, Bowden SG (2019) Photovoltaics education website. https://www.pveducation.org. Accessed 6 July 2020
Wang EY, Yu FTS, Sims VL, Brandhorst EW, Broder JD (1973) Optimum design of anti-reflection coating for silicon solar cells. 10th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, pp 168–171
Acknowledgements
Authors thank the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio for its support of this study. This study has been carried out as part of an independent study course (ME 2951) entitled “Simulation of optical properties of semiconductor multilayers from extreme ultraviolet to far infrared”. Senior Undergraduate Student, Cory Conkel, is the beneficiary of this course.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
About this paper
Cite this paper
Mehta, V., Conkel, C., Cochran, A., Ravindra, N.M. (2022). Materials for Antireflection Coatings in Photovoltaics—An Overview. In: TMS 2022 151st Annual Meeting & Exhibition Supplemental Proceedings. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92381-5_32
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92381-5_32
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-92380-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-92381-5
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)