For silicon thin film solar cells, light trapping strategies, to increase the path length of incoming light, play a decisive role for device performance. In this work, a new way to develop textured back reflectors for n-i-p flexible solar cells is studied. ZnO:Ga films are deposited by DC magnetron sputtering system using two facing Ga-doped ZnO ceramic targets at room temperature. The influence of distance between substrate and plasma on the structure and etching characteristic of ZnO:Ga is investigated. Polyimide/textured ZnO:Ga/Al structure is used as the back reflector, and the morphological and optical analyses indicate that it is suitable to be used in the silicon thin film solar cells. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.