Open AccessHydrophilic Antireflection and Antidust Silica Coatings
Author(s) -
Yuen Hong Tsang,
Brahim Aïssa,
Ayman Samara,
Said Mansour,
Cédric Broussillou,
Veronica Bermudez Benito
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
acs omega
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.779
H-Index - 40
ISSN - 2470-1343
DOI - 10.1021/acsomega.0c05405
Subject(s) - materials science , refractive index , molar absorptivity , thin film , surface roughness , optics , solar cell , surface finish , scanning electron microscope , layer (electronics) , sputter deposition , contact angle , sputtering , optoelectronics , composite material , nanotechnology , physics
We report on the optical and morphological properties of silica thin layers deposited by reactive RF magnetron sputtering of a SiO 2 target under different oxygen to total flow ratios [ r (O 2 ) = O 2 /Ar, ranging from 0 to 25%]. The refractive index ( n ), extinction coefficient, total transmission, and total reflectance were systematically investigated, while field-emission scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and three-dimensional (3D) average roughness data construction measurements were carried out to probe the surface morphology. Contact angle measurements were performed to assess the hydrophilicity of our coatings as a function of the oxygen content. We performed a thorough numerical analysis using 1D-solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS-1D) based on the measured experimental optical properties to simulate the photovoltaic (PV) device performance, where a clear improvement in the photoconversion efficiency from 25 to 26.5% was clearly observed with respect to r (O 2 ). Finally, a computational analysis using OptiLayer confirmed a minimum total reflectance of less than 0.4% by coupling a silica layer with n = 1.415 with another high-refractive-index (i.e., >2) oxide layer. These promising results pave the way for optimization of silica thin films as efficient antireflection and self-cleaning coatings to display better PV performance in a variety of locations including a desert environment.