Nanostructured as-deposited indium tin oxide thin films for broadband antireflection and light trapping

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were sputter-deposited at ambient temperature on a glass-like substrate that was periodically nanostructured by UV nanoimprint lithography. Cross gratings of the corrugated and conformal ITO, with different periods and modulation depths, were tailored to exhibit light trapping or antireflection properties at specific spectral windows by combined optical simulations and experiments. For dense gratings, the light transmission in the 450–850 nm range was enhanced by 8% (absolute) compared to flat ITO films, which is one of the largest performance improvements reported in the literature for nanostructured transparent electrodes. Increasing the grating period shifts the threshold for diffraction coupling to waveguide modes in the visible and near infrared part of the spectrum, resulting in broad light trapping behaviour at wavelengths below this threshold. This work demonstrates a simple processing route at ambient temperature for the fabrication of high-performance transparent electrodes in order to fulfil different device requirements. (paper)