REACTIVE ION ETCHING (RIE) AS A METHOD FOR TEXTURING POLYCRYSTALLINE SILICON SOLAR-CELLS

Reactive ion etching (RIE) has been applied and developed as a method for texturing polycrystalline silicon solar cells. Two structures (mic rogrooves and pyramids) were produced in this work. Reflectivity measu rements between 400-1200 nm show an overall reflectance of 5.6% for py ramid and 7.9% for groove structures. These results are better than th ose using wet anisotropic etch techniques on single-crystal silicon. R IE texturing was performed on cast polycrystalline silicon and produce d better reflection control than standard TiO2 antireflection coatings . RIE texturing also changes the incidence angle of light into the sil icon, this improves the response for long wavelengths which can be uti lised in thin film, polycrystalline or amorphous silicon solar cells.