Haze ratio enhancement using a closely packed ZnO monolayer structure

A ZnO thin-film that comprised a ZnO monolayer close-packed structure embedded in ZnO sol-gel was fabricated. The structure contained ZnO spheres of various sizes. At normal incidence, the mean optical transmittance of the thin-film was 60% in the visible region when the structure contained spheres with a diameter of 300 nm. An average haze ratio of 80% was obtained from the thin-film when the structure was formed using 500 nm-diameter spheres. The thin-film exhibits broad-band transparency and a high haze ratio. It can be used as a light-trapping structure in an ultrathin solar cell.