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We present a self-organized method based on defocused ion beam sputtering for nanostructuring glass substrates which feature antireflective and light trapping effects. By irradiating the substrate, capped with a thin gold (Au) film, a self-organized Au nanowire stencil mask is firstly created. The morphology of the mask is then transferred to the glass surface by further irradiating the substrate, finally producing high aspect ratio, uniaxial ripple-like nanostructures whose morphological parameters can be tailored by varying the ion fluence. The effect of a Ti adhesion layer, interposed between glass and Au with the role of inhibiting nanowire dewetting, has also been investigated in order to achieve an improved morphological tunability of the templates. Morphological and optical characterization have been carried out, revealing remarkable light trapping performance for the largest ion fluences. The photon harvesting capability of the nanostructured glass has been tested for different preparation conditions by fabricating thin film amorphous Si solar cells. The comparison of devices grown on textured and flat substrates reveals a relative increase of the short circuit current up to 25%. However, a detrimental impact on the electrical performance is observed with the rougher morphologies endowed with steep v-shaped grooves. We finally demonstrate that post-growth ion beam restructuring of the glass template represents a viable approach toward improved electrical performance.

Self-organized nanowire arrays are confined by glancing-angle Au deposition on nanopatterned glass templates prepared by ion beam sputtering. The semi-transparent 1D nanowire arrays are extended over large cm2 areas and are endowed with excellent electrical conductivity competitive with the best transparent conductive oxides (sheet resistance in the range of 5–20 Ohm sq−1). In addition, the nanowires support localized surface plasmon (LSP) resonances, which are easily tunable into the visible and near infrared spectrum and are selectively excited with incident light polarized perpendicularly to the wires. Such substrates, thus, behave as multifunctional nanoelectrodes, which combine good optoelectronic performance with dichroic plasmonic excitation. The electrical percolation process of the Au nanoelectrodes was monitored in situ during growth at glancing angle, both on flat and nanopatterned glass templates. In the first case, we observed a universal scaling of the differential percolation rate, independently of the glancing deposition angle, while deviations from the universal scaling were observed when Au was confined on nanopatterned templates. In the latter case, the pronounced shadowing effect promotes the growth of locally connected 1D Au nanosticks on the ‘illuminated’ ripple ridges, thus, introducing strong anisotropies with respect to the case of a 2D percolating network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]