Figure 3 AFM micrograph of a typical PC film with injection nanomolded submicron holes. The scanned area is 6 μm × 6 μm. It is noticeable and worth pointing out that the NHAs fabricated here have geometrically hemispherical bottom which can be potentially served as the backside reflector one-end open cavities for photon trapping. Next,

a wide range of nanohole depths in the range of approximately 200 to 420 nm can be quickly and reliably replicated simply by changing the mold temperature as shown in AFM measurements of Figure 4a,b,c,d. It experimentally scanned five to seven areas for each sample from the center to the circumference and variation in fabricated NHAs in terms of replication depth, diameter and periodicity and was found to be negligible, showing a consistent replication over an area of 100-mm-diameter Selleckchem eFT508 PC film. The section analysis and associated top views for various depths as a function of molding temperature reveals that the depth is linearly proportional to the molding temperature. Note that the injection nanomolding is widely controlled in the compact disk industry, which is technically proven to be a fast, large area with a high-throughput manufacturing process. The density of surface features can be readily tuned simply by changing another Ni stamp of different periodicity. The manufacture of Ni

stamp adopts SC79 chemical structure the commercially available electroforming process which is described elsewhere [30, 31]. Generally, other anti-reflection nanotextured surfaces such as etching selleck utilized anodization voltage to control the pitch over the surface feature density, while uniformity can be a serious issue over a large area. Notably, the depths of NHAs can be independently tuned by molding temperature in the present study. Figure 4 AFM micrographs of measured NHA depths corresponds to different molding temperatures. (a) 115°C, (b) 120°C, (c) 125°C, (d) 130°C. Based on the above

reliable replication of injection nanomolded textured PC film, we subsequently focus on the utility and potential practical applications as anti-reflection layers. Given the controlled geometry of the surface features with prescribed diameters, depth, and periodicity, textured PC film can be utilized as ideal nanoscale replication www.selleck.co.jp/products/forskolin.html tools for template-assisted replication of nanostructured materials using nanoimprinting process. Furthermore, another important application of surface texturing is the enhancement and/or tunability of photon management. Bio-inspired structures include “moth eye” antireflective coatings and intentionally textured back contacts are two specific examples which have been shown as promising candidates to enhance the absorption and/or carrier collection efficiency of solar cells. In particular, large-area subwavelength surface texturing with tunable capability is highly desired.