The impact of intermediate reflectors on light absorption in tandem solar cells with randomly textured surfaces

The impact of dielectric intermediate reflectors on the light absorption in the top cell of an a-Si:H/μc-Si:H tandem solar cell comprising randomly textured surfaces was investigated by rigorous diffraction theory. Despite the strong light scattering, we found Fabry–Pérot oscillations for the absorption with a decreasing modulation for an increasing thickness of the intermediate layer, a larger oscillation period when compared to thin films and a homogenization of the absorption profile. Optimized intermediate reflectors generate an absorption enhancement in the a-Si:H film, which varies between a factor of 2 and more than 3 for wavelengths of strong and weak absorption, respectively.