Integration of subwavelength optical nanostructures for improved antireflection performance of mechanically flexible GaAs solar cells fabricated by epitaxial lift-off

We demonstrate the integration of subwavelength moth-eye and Al2O3 nanoisland structures fabricated on polymer packaging sheets and the surface of conventional Al2O3/TiO2 bilayer antireflection coatings, respectively, with epitaxial lift-off single-junction GaAs solar cells. The mechanically flexible cell structure with the integrated optical nanostructures shows substantially improved photovoltaic performance under various incident angles and bending radii compared to devices without such structures: the increase in short-circuit current density arising from integration of these nanostructures ranges from 9% at normal incidence to 52% at 80 degrees incidence; and the reduction in short-circuit current density under moderate bending decreases from 9.7% to 6.7%. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.