Light scattering at random pyramid textures:

Effects beyond geometric optics

Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 1999, 030002 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5049263
Published Online: 10 August 2018

Oliver Höhn, Nico Tucher, Armin Richter, et al.

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AIP Conference Proceedings 1999, 030002 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5049263 1999, 030002

© 2018 Author(s).
 Light Scattering at Random Pyramid Textures: Effects
beyond Geometric Optics
Oliver Höhn1, a), Nico Tucher1, 2, Armin Richter1, Martin Hermle1, and
Benedikt Bläsi1
1
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, ISE, Heidenhofstraße 2, 79100 Freiburg, Germany
2
Albert-Ludwigs-University, Department of Sustainable Systems Engineering INATECH, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103,
79110 Freiburg, Germany
a)
Corresponding author: oliver.hoehn@ise.fraunhofer.de

Abstract. The currently highest measured efficiency for both side contacted monocrystalline Silicon solar cells is 25.8%.
The external quantum efficiency of these solar cells with random pyramids at the front side differs from results achieved
with pure ray optical modeling. As is already known from literature, better agreement can be reached by introducing
additional scattering into the modeled system. Within this paper we show that this scattering can be well explained using a
Phong-like scatterer. What is more, we show that in the investigated high efficiency solar cells scattering at the rear side is
a minor effect although it is often assumed as the origin of scattering. The relevant scattering instead is caused by the
random pyramids themselves.

INTRODUCTION
For both side contacted crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells, the currently highest measured efficiency is 25.8%
using a random pyramid textured front side with a TOPCon planar rear side [1]. The external quantum efficiency
(EQE) in the long wavelength range of these solar cells with random pyramids at the front side and a silver mirror at
the bright etched rear side cannot be explained with pure ray optical modeling of the random pyramids. It is known
from literature that a certain amount of additional scattering has to be assumed to explain results of former
measurements [2,3]. There, the assumption is that this additional scattering occurs at the rear side. For simplicity, the
scattering was assumed to be partial Lambertian, meaning that a certain fraction of the rear side shows Lambertian
scattering, the remaining part reflects light specularly.
In this paper we show that relevant scattering is caused by the random pyramids themselves. It can be concluded
from measurements and scattering analyses of random pyramids, that scattering around the main ray optical
propagation directions of the random pyramids is the major effect in the investigated c-Si solar cells. This can be well
described with a Phong-like [4] scatterer.
In the following the introduction of additional scattering into the OPTOS simulation formalism is described. Then
the question, where scattering occurs in the system is addressed and partial Lambertian scattering is compared to
Phong-like scattering. Finally, the conclusions are used to investigate the impact on the light trapping performance of
random pyramids. Based on this, the potential of rear side light-trapping structures for crystalline silicon solar cells
with pyramidal front side is re-evaluated.

SiliconPV 2018, The 8th International Conference on Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaics

AIP Conf. Proc. 1999, 030002-1–030002-5; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5049263
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1715-1/$30.00

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 SCATTERING IN RANDOM PYRAMIDS

Phong-like Scattering and Lambertian Scattering in OPTOS

In order to investigate the effect of scattering, the OPTOS formalism [5] is used. It allows for the optical modeling
especially of silicon solar cells with differently textured surfaces in an efficient way with the help of light redistribution
matrices for each interface. The modeling assumes that the light at first interacts with the original structure (here:
random pyramids with constant slope angle of 54.7°) and afterwards it is scattered, meaning that after each interaction
with an interface (that may cause scattering in itself) light is additionally scattered. In terms of interface matrices this
means that the incident light vector is multiplied with the interface matrix and after this with the scatter matrix. A
closer description of the implementation of scattering into OPTOS can be found in [6], while a sketch of the
implementation can be seen in FIGURE 1 a). In FIGURE 1 b) the scatter distribution of a Phong-like scatterer is
depicted.

FIGURE 1 a) Sketch of the implementation of scattering. After each interaction with the pyramidal interface the light is
scattered.
b) Depiction of a Phong-like scatter distribution. For an angle on incidence of 20° and a scatter angle of 11.4°, the scatter
distribution is shown in the right graph. [6]

In FIGURE 2 a symmetry element of a transmission redistribution matrix of purely ray traced random pyramids
(FIGURE 2 a) is compared to a redistribution, where additional Phong-like scattering (scatter angle 11.4°, FIGURE
2 b) is assumed. It can clearly be seen that the transmission angles smear out and reach a broader distribution of light.

FIGURE 2 Symmetry element of a transmission redistribution matrix (normal light incidence from air, transmission into the
silicon, random pyramids, and wavelength 1100 nm). a) The propagation directions from pure ray optical modeling can clearly be
distinguished. Additional scattering with an angle 11.4° in b) leads to a broader redistribution of the redirected light. [6]

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 Comparison to Experiment – Where Does the Scattering Occur?
Two hypotheses have to be tested: (1) Additional scattering in the investigated TOPCon systems is mainly caused
by the front side pyramids and (2) Phong-like scattering is a more realistic assumption than partial Lambertian
scattering.
FIGURE 3 (a) shows the measured EQE of the 25.8 % record cell and the simulated absorptance curves. It can be
seen that modeling without any additional scattering leads to a strong underestimation of the absorptance in the device.
A strong scattering has to be assumed to explain results as can be seen in FIGURE 3 (a). It does not matter if we
assume partial Lambertian (50%) or Phong-like (1/e decay of scattering intensity at 11.4°) scattering here; and it also
does not matter if the scattering happens at the front pyramids or the rear reflector to reproduce the measurements.
However, if the scattering would occur at the planar rear side, a solar cell with a planar front side would also be
influenced by the same scattering.
Measurements of the diffuse reflectance of such a co-planar system close to the band gap of silicon show that
actually only small scattering is caused by the rear interface. This could be explained with <1° of Phong-like scattering
at the rear or partial Lambertian scattering with a Lambertian fraction >20%.
The results of absorptance measurements for such a co-planar system are shown in FIGURE 3 (b). It can be seen
that the introduction of relevant scattering at the rear side would enhance the absorptance to levels higher than the
measured values. So the absorptance measurement of such a co-planar structure can only be explained, when assuming
very little rear side scattering –either very narrow Phong-like or partial Lambertian scattering with a Lambertian
fraction ≪ 20%.
It becomes clear that only very narrow Phong-like scattering is in agreement with both the absorptance and the
diffuse reflectance measurements at the co-planar system, while partial Lambertian scattering cannot explain both
results at the same time. Since such a narrow scattering angle is far too small to cause the EQE enhancements measured
at the random pyramid sample, the scattering must be caused mainly by the random pyramids at the front side.
Consequently, hypothesis (1) is proven correct: Additional scattering in the investigated TOPCon systems is
mainly caused by the front side pyramids.

FIGURE 3 (a) Comparison of an EQE measurement of a TOPCon solar cell with random pyramids and modeling assuming
different kinds of scattering. (b) Comparison of an absorption measurement of a TOPCon solar cell with planar front and
modeling with different kinds of rear side scattering.

Phong-like Scattering vs. Partial Lambertian Scattering in Pyramids

Both Phong-like and partial Lambertian scattering in the pyramids could explain the absorption results shown in
the last section. While a first indication for the planar device already hints to Phong-like scattering, this is not yet
confirmed for systems with a random pyramid front side. So, in order to test hypothesis (2), additional information is
needed. As we already showed that scattering in the system is mainly caused by the random pyramids, we can now

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focus on scattering effects that are caused by them. Authors such as F.-J. Haug [7] Manzoor [8], and Baker-Finch [9]
showed that random front side pyramids will scatter. They also showed that scattering occurs around the main
propagation directions of the random pyramids. This physical effect is reproduced quite well by the described Phong-
like scattering, especially much better than by the assumption of partial Lambertian scattering. This leads to the
conclusion that Phong-like scattering is much closer to reality than Lambertian scattering, which was stated in
hypothesis (2). It is clear that Phong-like scattering is no exact physical description but rather a good empiric
reproduction of what happens in real world devices that allows efficient and accurate predictions of cell and module
optics.

IMPACT ON THE LIGHT TRAPPING EFFICIENCY OF RANDOM PYRAMIDS

Based on the findings concerning scattering of random pyramids, the thickness dependent photocurrent potential
of solar cells with random pyramids introduced by J. Eisenlohr in [10] has to be updated. The photocurrent potential
of random pyramids is higher than originally thought and therefore, the potential of additional rear side structures was
overestimated. The graph containing the updated potential is shown in FIGURE 4. For example, for a 200 µm thick
cell the possible gain for a rear side grating would be 0.8 mA/cm² when assuming random pyramids without additional
scattering. This gain potential decreases to 0.3 mA/cm² when accounting for the scattering effects in the real device.

FIGURE 4 Thickness dependent photo current potential for a solar cell with random front side pyramids. Non-scattering
pyramids are compared to pyramids with additional Phong-like and perfect Lambertian scattering. The planar rear side consists of
a combination of Oxide and silver mirror, while the grating is a crossed grating in amorphous Silicon with air as surrounding
material and an aluminum mirror behind [11].

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 CONLUSION
From the comparison of measured and modeled high efficiency silicon solar cells it can be concluded that relevant
scattering is caused by random pyramids and that the shape of this scattering can be well described by a combination
of ray tracing and a Phong model. This is in contrast to other publications that indicate that additional scattering occurs
solely at the rear side. It might be that a part of the additional scattering in other devices can be caused by the rear
side, but random pyramids at the front side themselves do lead to strong scattering that cannot solely be described by
ray optical modeling with one constant slope angle of the random pyramids.
It was found that the light trapping performance of random pyramids is significantly better, when accounting for
additional scattering as compared to pure ray optical modeling. Therefore, the photocurrent potential of Silicon solar
cells with random pyramids is higher than it would be expected without scattering.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economics and Energy in frame of the GROSCHEN
project (Contract no. 0324012B)

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