Black Silicon: Microfabrication Techniques and Characterization for Solar Cells Applications

The properties of black silicon are well suited for use in photovoltaic applications. We plan to use the advantages of black silicon to build new types of solar cells that will be able to capture solar energy across a wider range, thereby realizing greater efficiency in future photovoltaic cells (J.S. Yoo 2006) (K. Nishioka 2009) (Y.M. Song 2010) (Y. Xia 2011). The method of production has brought the use of black silicon in photovoltaic arrays closer to commercial realisation, as it will reduce the cost of black silicon production, minimize reflectivity and maximize the absorbance (B.S. Kim 2011) (H. Sai 2006) (H. Sai 2007) (K. Tsujino 2006) (K. Nishioka 2008). The basic objective of this paper is to create black silicon by chemical wet etching techniques using Au nano particles directly formed on silicon substrates. We further decided to try to optimize this material using non-heavily photolithographic methods, such as etching. The morphology of Black Si was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and the optical properties were given thanks to Cary Spectrometer.