Periodic anti-ring back reflectors for hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin-film solar cells

Large and periodic anti-ring arrays are fabricated by using a monolayer of polymer/nanosphere hybrid technique and applied as back reflectors in substrate-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin-film solar cells. The structure of each anti-ring comprises a nanodome centered inside a nanohole. The excitation of Bloch wave surface plasmon polaritons is observed in the Ag-coated anti-ring arrays. The nanodomes of the anti-ring arrays turn out to enhance large-angle light scattering and increase the effective optical path in the solar cell. The resulting efficiency of an ultrathin a-Si:H (thickness: 150 nm) solar cell is enhanced by 39% compared to that with a flat back reflector and by 13% compared to that with a nanohole back reflector.