Antireflective and nanocolumnar-shaped Mn:ZnO films grown by chemical bath deposition

In the present study, intriguing nanocolumnar-shaped Mn-doped ZnO (Mn:ZnO) films have been prepared by a simple and scalable two-step chemical bath deposition technique. Firstly, the ZnO nano-seeds were deposited on a glass substrate, and in the second step, the hexagonal pyramidal-shaped Mn:ZnO arrays were grown regularly as well as vertically based on the ZnO seeds. The optical properties of the nanocolumnar-shaped Mn:ZnO films have been investigated in detail. Interestingly, the reflectance measurements demonstrate that the nanocolumnar-shaped Mn:ZnO films are an excellent candidate for antireflection coatings, showing a significantly low reflectance over the entire visible spectrum. The inverse hexagonal pyramidal-shaped Mn:ZnO films with antireflection and photon-trapping properties have great potential for their integration into nanoscale devices, especially thin-film solar cells.

Automated summary

In this study, nanocolumnar-shaped Mn-doped ZnO films were prepared using a simple and scalable two-step chemical bath deposition technique. The optical properties of these films were investigated and it was found that they exhibit low reflectance over the entire visible spectrum, making them excellent candidates for antireflection coatings. Furthermore, the inverse hexagonal pyramidal-shaped Mn:ZnO films with antireflection and photon-trapping properties have great potential for integration into nanoscale devices, especially thin-film solar cells.