Increasing Broadband Absorption in Thin Film Solar Cells with Reverse-Engineered Correlated Disorder Patterns

Numerous diffraction patterns can be employed to manipulate light at the nanoscale by arranging sub-wavelength scale nano-scatterers in a large-scale arrangement. Correlated-disordered patterns suppress small-angle scattering and allow to tailor the broad band scattering response beyond the critical angle.
Here, we show a versatile pattern generation approach based on reverse engineering the Fourier space and Gaussian random fields. We demonstrate how light diffraction can be controlled at the nanoscale using these metasurfaces. This results in a significant increase in broadband absorption in ultra-thin film absorbers for photovoltaic applications.