Optics and Wettability of Glasses Induced by the Aluminum Template

To improve the transmittance and enhance the hydrophilicity on the surface of glass, a aluminum-induced method was used to prepare the light trapping structure. The Al thin films were prepared by DC magnetron sputter technique. The effects of annealing treatment at various substrate temperatures on the surface structure, optical properties and wettability of the glass were studied. The glass surface prepared was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The change of the transmittance of the glass after the process was measured by the UV-VIS spectrophotometer. The wetting property of the bare and etching glass was determined by the contact angle instrument. Results show the different structures of light trapping structure can be prepared by adjusting annealing temperature. The transmittance of the samples annealed at 150℃ reaches 94% within the wavelength range of 480-680 nm. The surface contact angle of the sample annealed at 200℃ decreases to 8.6°.