Self-formation of Ag-Mo alloy films with conical particle arrays and strong light-trapping properties

Black Ag-Mo alloy films were formed spontaneously on silver (Ag) sheets/targets by composite target sputtering. The morphology, composition, phase, crystal structure and reflectivity of black Ag-Mo alloy films were characterized by SEM, EDS, XRD, TEM and UV spectrophotometer. Results show that Ag-Mo alloy films with conical particle arrays are spontaneously formed on sputtered Ag sheets, and the Ag-Mo alloy films exhibit strong light trapping effect in the visible wavelength range, resulting in a black appearance of the Ag sheets. The strong light-trapping properties can be ascribed to the conical particle arrays closely arranged on the Ag-Mo alloy films, which caused the reflectivity of the Ag sheets to reduce substantially from 90% down to 10%. The Ag-Mo alloy films prepared by magnetron sputtering methods provide a new idea for fabrication of high light trapping materials. (c) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

Black Ag-Mo alloy films were spontaneously formed on silver sheets by composite target sputtering, exhibiting strong light trapping effect in the visible wavelength range and reducing the reflectivity substantially. The conical particle arrays on the Ag-Mo alloy films are responsible for the light trapping properties, providing a new idea for fabrication of high light trapping materials.