Enhancement of the light conversion efficiency of silicon solar cells by using nanoimprint anti-reflection layer

In this report, the results of the fabrication of nanostructured Si molds by e-beam lithography and chemical wet etching are presented. A home-made pneumatic nanoimprint system was used to transfer the mold patterns to a PMMA layer on a Si template using the spin-coating replication/hot-embossing techniques. The patterned PMMA layer was peeled off from the Si template and directly transferred onto the surface of a poly-Si P–N junction solar cell device to serve as the anti-reflection (AR) layer. It provides a simple and low-cost means for large-scale use in the production of AR layers for improving solar cell performance. A drastic reduction in reflectivity of the AR layer over a broad spectral range was demonstrated. In addition, the great improvement on the light harvest efficiency of the solar cells from 10.4% to 13.5% using the nanostructured PMMA layer as the AR layer was validated.