TiO2/Ni composite as antireflection coating for solar cell application

• Optical band gap increased with increasing of Ni concentrations.
• Reflectance decreased with the increasing of Ni concentratins significantly.
• Empirical equations were estimated which fit perfectly with experimental data.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) considered as one of the best material already used as a window in solar cells due to its antireflection capability. In this work, pure and Ni-doped (1, 3 and 5 wt%) TiO2 thin films were deposited using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method. The optical measurements obtained by UV–vis indicate that the highest optical band gap was found with (5%) doping level (Eg=3.82 eV), corresponding to a lower reflectance and higher transmittance. Empirical equations between energy band gap and concentration level, reflectance with energy band gap, refractive index and concentration have been determined; a perfect fit with the experimental data was obtained.