The possibility of using porous silicon layers as antireflection coating in
stead of the antireflection coatings in common silicon solar cells was inve
stigated. A technology for the manufacture of porous silicon antireflection
layers was developed. The comparison of the photovoltaic and optical chara
cteristics of investigated samples of solar cells with ZnS antireflection c
oating and with porous silicon antireflection coating is presented. It is s
hown that the formation of the porous layer under optimal technological reg
imes leads to significant improvement of the main photovoltaic parameters-s
hort-circuit current and open-circuit voltage. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.
V. All rights reserved.