Enhanced broadband optical absorption from nanostructured nickel thin-films for solar energy applications

摘要

This paper presents results obtained from Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) and Transfer Matrix Method (TMM) modelling of nickel thin-films. It is shown that by adding a periodic grating to the surface of the nickel we can dramatically increase its optical absorption over the 300 nm–1000 nm spectral range at normal incidence. The main aim of this work is to maximise the optical absorption of a thin nickel film as part of a solar-thermal energy conversion device.