Antireflective properties of porous Si nanocolumnar structures with graded refractive index layers.

We report on the antireflective characteristics of porous silicon (Si) nanocolumnar structures consisting of graded refractive index layers and carry out a rigorous coupled-wave analysis simulation. The refractive index of Si is gradually modified by a tilted angle electron beam evaporation method. For the fabricated Si nanostructure with a Gaussian index profile of 100 nm, reflectivity (R) of less than 7.5% is obtained with an average value of approximately 2.9% at the wavelength region of 400-800 nm. The experimental results are reasonably consistent with the simulated results for the design of antireflective Si nanostructures.