Investigation of barium titanate thin films as simple antireflection coatings for solar cells

Abstract

Barium titanate (BaTiO 3 , BTO) is a perovskite class material of remarkable dielectric, ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties. Our previous studies on optical properties of BTO thin films proved high visible transmittance and sharp absorption edge at ~ 300 nm. Therefore the usage of BTO as a UV blocker or an antireflection (AR) coating in visible region is straightforward. AR coatings are agreed to be important parts of many photonic devices, among them also of solar cells. In this paper, single layers of amorphous BTO are numerically and experimentally investigated as promising AR coatings for achieving increased light trapping in thin film silicon solar cells. Reduced reflections achieved by BTO thin films deposited using RF magnetron sputtering on a-Si:H/SiO 2 compared with pristine a-Si:H/SiO 2 system are clearly demonstrated. Antireflection effects are analyzed using simple AR systems comprising BTO.

ANNEALING TEMPERATURES’ EFFECTS ON MICROSTRUCTURE AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF Ba0.95Sr0.05TiO3 FILMS

“…The internal electric field is originated from the spontaneous polarization and domains of the materials themselves [1,3,5]. Photovoltaic effects have been many studied in ferroelectric perovskites including BiFeO3 [1,5], Pb(Zr,Ti)O3, Nd-doped BTO [7], BTO [2][3][4]8], and BST [9] where the current study reported efficiency of up to 21% [10].…”

“…It is a perovskite film sandwiched in a solar cell that acts as a photon absorber [1,2]. It is low production costs, high absorption coefficient of light, high mobility, and adjustable bandgap [3,4]. The photovoltaic effects in perovskite ferroelectrics occur inside the materials by exploiting the internal electric field to promote charge separation and electron transport [5,6].…”

Antireflective, photocatalytic, and superhydrophilic coating prepared by facile sparking process for photovoltaic panels

“…Several methods to reduce the reflectance and enhance the efficiency of solar panels have been studied. Coating may be realized by both chemical and physical methods, such as sol–gel dip-coating 1 , spin coating 2 , nanoimprint lithography using sol–gel materials 3 , plasma surface oxidation 4 , RF sputtering 5 – 7 , and thermal evaporation 8 . In this work, we propose a simple and inexpensive sparking process to produce an AR film.…”

Control of Oxygen Vacancies in TiO6 Octahedra of Amorphous BaTiO3 Thin Films with Tunable Built‐In Electric Field in a‐BaTiO3/p‐Si Heterojunction for Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor Applications

“…Among the contenders, perovskite BaTiO 3 (BTO), as a typical lead‐free displacement‐type ferroelectric featuring a large dielectric constant, stands out . Many researchers have investigated the functionalities of BTO thin film deposited on Si substrates, which not only can be used as a gate insulator, but also has other properties such as a rectifying effect, a photovoltaic effect, a room temperature luminescent effect, and an antireflection effect …”