Highly-efficient low cost anisotropic wet etching of silicon wafers for solar cells application
Sami Iqbal,
Li-Jiang Zhang,
Xing-Chang Fu,
Dan Su,
Huan-Li Zhou,
Weiping Wu,
Tong Zhang
Affiliations
Sami Iqbal
Joint International Research Laboratory of Information Display and Visualization, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P. R. China
Li-Jiang Zhang
Joint International Research Laboratory of Information Display and Visualization, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P. R. China
Xing-Chang Fu
Joint International Research Laboratory of Information Display and Visualization, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P. R. China
Dan Su
Suzhou Key Laboratory of Metal Nano-Optoelectronic Technology, Suzhou Research Institute of Southeast University, Suzhou 215123, P. R. China
Huan-Li Zhou
Joint International Research Laboratory of Information Display and Visualization, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P. R. China
Weiping Wu
School of Computer Science, Mathematics and Engineering, City University of London, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, United Kingdom
Tong Zhang
Joint International Research Laboratory of Information Display and Visualization, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P. R. China
In this work, a novel aqueous etching solution was investigated for texturization of silicon substrates. Nearly 30% of incident light is reflected from the surface of crystalline silicon due to its high refractive index. Surface texturization is an efficient practice to reduce surface reflection by enhancing light trapping. Newly formulated etching solution was evaluated for optical reflection, surface morphology and hydrophilicity of silicon substrates. Amazingly, experimental results demonstrate lowest optical reflectance, improved surface morphology as well as enhanced periodicity of the resulting pyramids. A remarkably lowest surface reflectance of 9.94% was achieved. Meanwhile, addition of IPA in the solution plays a major part in improving hydrophilicity of the silicon substrates.
