Modeling of light scattering properties from surface profile in thin-film solar cells by Fourier transform techniques

The optical properties of textured surfaces in the micro and nanometer range are of interest in manifold topics, such as thin-film silicon photovoltaics. Light scattering models, which are based on Fourier transform techniques, are applied to calculate both, the angularly resolved scattering and the haze. Therein, topography, measured by atomic force microscopy, and the refractive index are used as input data. In this study, these models are applied to zinc oxide/air interfaces and to zinc oxide/hydrogenated amorphous silicon interfaces. Results obtained from zinc oxide/air interfaces are compared to the measured scattering properties.