Light trapping scheme of ICP-RIE glass texturing by SF6/Ar plasma for high haze ratio

Inductive coupled plasma-reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) offers an anisotropic texturing with superior surface structure of glass substrate. We report light trapping scheme of ICP-RIE glass texturing by SF6/Ar plasma. We observed that surface structure is an important factor to improve the diffused transmittance and haze ratio of textured glass. The presence of metal elements like Al, B, F and Na are responsible for low etching rate (22.66–27.33 nm/min) of textured glass. The total transmittance remains high whereas the diffused transmittance increased with the pattern size due to the variation of surface morphology of glass. Our textured glass substrates showed the high diffused transmittance and haze ratio in the visible-NIR wavelength region. The electrical properties of the ITO films are independent of glass surface structure that may be suitable for high performance of thin film solar cells.

► Light trapping scheme of ICP-RIE glass texturing by SF6/Ar plasma is presented.
► UV photo-lithography used for various size of patterns transfer on glass surface.
► Diffused transmittance and haze ratio of textured glass improved by pattern sizes.
► Electrical properties of ITO films are unaffected by change in surface structure.
► Textured glass substrates are purposed for high efficiency thin film solar cells.