Open AccessEffect of aperiodicity on the broadband reflection of silicon nanorod structures for photovoltaics
Author(s) -
Chenxi Lin,
Ningfeng Huang,
Michelle L. Povinelli
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.20.00a125
Subject(s) - aperiodic graph , reflection (computer programming) , nanorod , optics , silicon , materials science , broadband , scattering , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , physics , mathematics , computer science , combinatorics , programming language
We carry out a systematic numerical study of the effects of aperiodicity on silicon nanorod anti-reflection structures. We use the scattering matrix method to calculate the average reflection loss over the solar spectrum for periodic and aperiodic arrangements of nanorods. We find that aperiodicity can either improve or deteriorate the anti-reflection performance, depending on the nanorod diameter. We use a guided random-walk algorithm to design optimal aperiodic structures that exhibit lower reflection loss than both optimal periodic and random aperiodic structures.