CHEMICAL VAPOR-DEPOSITION OF SPECTRALLY SELECTIVE SURFACES FOR HIGH-TEMPERATURE PHOTOTHERMAL CONVERSION

Chemical vapor deposition was adapted to the fabrication of multilayer thin film systems of the spectral selectivity required for photothermal solar energy conversion. The systems operate on the principle of an absorber-reflector tandem, the absorption of the solar photons being accomplished by a layer of polycrystalline or amorphous silicon and the thermal emittance being reduced by a silver or molybdenum reflector. The surfaces were tested for several thousand hours at 500°C without degradation of their optical performance. © 1979.