Broadband antireflective nano-cones for tandem solar cells

Broadband solar cell antireflection coatings made of nano-cones are studied in square lattices of ZnS, TiO2 and Si3N4. In the best case, the spectrally integrated transmittance (accounting for both reflection and dielectric absorption losses) for direct solar radiation is 99 %, which represents a four-fold decrease in transmission losses in comparison to a standard antireflective coating bilayer. The dependence of the transmission as a function of nanostructure dimensions is studied, showing a wide maximum, thus leading to a high tolerance for manufacturing errors. This high transmittance is also robust against deviations from normal incidence. Our analysis suggests that the high transmittance is due not only to an effective gradual index effect, but is also due to light coupling to quasiguided modes in the photonic crystal leaking mostly towards the substrate. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America