title: Studying nanostructured nipple arrays of moth eye facets helps to design better thin film solar cells.
abstract: Nipples on the surface of moth eye facets exhibit almost perfect broadband anti-reflection properties. We have studied the facet surface micro-protuberances, known as corneal nipples, of the chestnut leafminer moth Cameraria ohridella by atomic force microscopy, and simulated the optics of the nipple arrays by three-dimensional electromagnetic simulation. The influence of the dimensions and shapes of the nipples on the optics was studied. In particular, the shape of the nipples has a major influence on the anti-reflection properties. Furthermore, we transferred the structure of the almost perfect broadband anti-reflection coatings to amorphous silicon thin film solar cells. The coating that imitates the moth-eye array allows for an increase of the short circuit current and conversion efficiency of more than 40%.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Functional Materials and Nanomolecular Science, Electronic Devices and Nanophotonics Laboratory, Jacobs University Bremen, 28759 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Rahul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dewan
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: V Benno
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Meyer-Rochow
authors.forename: Yasemin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Özdemir
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamraz
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Knipp
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D032701:Biomimetics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003315:Cornea / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000379:methods; D007909:Lenses; D009036:Moths / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012031:Refractometry; D012993:Solar Energy