Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a versatile and commercially viable technology for fabrication of structures for light trapping in solar cells. We demonstrate the applicability of NIL in thin film silicon solar cells in substrate configuration, where NIL is used to fabricate a textured rear contact of the solar cells. We applied random structures, based on the natural texture of SnO/ F grown by APCVD, and designed 2D periodic structures and show that for single junction mc-Si cells these textured rear contacts lead to an increase of Jsc of more than 40% in comparison to cells with flat rear contacts. Cells on optimized periodic textures showed higher fill factors which can be attributed to reduced microcrack formation, leading to less shunting in comparison to cells on random textures.

A series of (n–i–p) a‐Si:H solar cells with light‐trapping by front‐side plasmonic Ag nanoparticle arrays was compared to a reference without the plasmonic arrays as well as to a benchmark with a conventional textured back‐side reflector for light‐trapping. The external quantum efficiency of the solar cells was determined experimentally by spectral response measurements. The comparison gives a comprehensive snap‐shot of the potential of front‐side plasmonic light‐trapping in a‐Si:H solar cells for the array parameterization used in this study. Relative to the reference the plasmonic arrays lead to clearly enhanced light‐trapping in the longer wavelength range (600–800 nm). This enhancement is lower than the one achieved by the benchmark though, which is discussed in terms of further research perspectives.

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