title: Repurposing Blu-ray movie discs as quasi-random nanoimprinting templates for photon management.
abstract: Quasi-random nanostructures have attracted significant interests for photon management purposes. To optimize such patterns, typically very expensive fabrication processes are needed to create the pre-designed, subwavelength nanostructures. While quasi-random photonic nanostructures are abundant in nature (for example, in structural coloration), interestingly, they also exist in Blu-ray movie discs, an already mass-produced consumer product. Here we uncover that Blu-ray disc patterns are surprisingly well suited for light-trapping applications. While the algorithms in the Blu-ray industrial standard were developed with the intention of optimizing data compression and error tolerance, they have also created quasi-random arrangement of islands and pits on the final media discs that are nearly optimized for photon management over the solar spectrum, regardless of the information stored on the discs. As a proof-of-concept, imprinting polymer solar cells with the Blu-ray patterns indeed increases their efficiencies. Simulation suggests that Blu-ray patterns could be broadly applied for solar cells made of other materials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, 2220 Campus Drive, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Dongning
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, 2220 Campus Drive, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Jiaxing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang