The textured 304BA stainless steel (SS) substrates were fabricated by the lift-off and etching processes, respectively. The total reflection (TR) rate and the diffuse reflection (DR) rate of incidence on the textured 304BA SS substrate were studied. The experimental results showed that the DR rate increased linearly with the increase in the total effective area of the stripe textured 304BA SS substrate. In addition, the Ag films coating/ridged-stripe textured 304BA SS substrate achieved a DR rate of up to similar to 97%, a 28-fold increase compared with the untreated 304BA SS substrate. It is believed that the drastically increased DR rate of the Ag films coating/ridged-stripe textured 304BA SS substrate is due to not only the increase in total effective area but also the decrease in the opening angle of the ridged textured substrate which generates a more random distribution of light scattering. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.