%0 Conference Paper %D 2013 %T The photovoltaic potential of femtosecond-laser textured amorphous silicon %A M. Sher %A K. Charles Hammond %A L. Christakis %A Mazur, E. %K CA %K San Francisco %X Femtosecond laser texturing of silicon yields micrometer scale surface roughness that reduces reflection and enhances light absorption. In this work, we study the potential of using this technique to improve efficiencies of amorphous silicon-based solar cells by laser texturing thin amorphous silicon films. We use a Ti:Sapphire femtosecond laser system to texture amorphous silicon, and we also study the effect of laser texturing the substrate before depositing amorphous silicon. We report on the material properties including surface morphology, light absorption, crystallinity, as well as solar cell efficiencies before and after laser texturing. %I SPIE 2013 Photonics West %G eng %U /files/mazur/files/rep_699.pdf