Surface etching for light trapping in encapsulated InP solar cells

Abstract

A technique for reducing the reflectance of glass-encapsulated InP, which is important for increasing the efficiency of solar cells and photodetectors, is described. The technique produces low-angle grooves on the surface by a maskless anisotropic etch. Light reflected from the low angle grooves is trapped by total internal reflection at the glass/air interface and directed back to the InP surface. Measurements indicating a significant decrease in surface reflection are presented.<>