Investigation of alternative window materials for GaAs solar cells

The optimum window material for surface passivation of GaAs solar cells is investigated using theoretical analysis of optical losses due to window bandgap energy and thickness. A simplified expression is developed to calculate the effective surface recombination velocity in terms of lattice mismatch...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIEEE transactions on electron devices Vol. 40; no. 4; pp. 705 - 711
Main Authors DeSalvo, G.C., Barnett, A.M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, NY IEEE 01.04.1993
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Subjects
140501 - Solar Energy Conversion- Photovoltaic Conversion
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
Applied sciences
CHALCOGENIDES
DESIGN
DIMENSIONS
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
EFFICIENCY
Energy
ENERGY GAP
Exact sciences and technology
FABRICATION
Gallium arsenide
GALLIUM ARSENIDE SOLAR CELLS
Lattices
MATERIALS
Natural energy
Optical materials
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PASSIVATION
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
Photonic band gap
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
Photovoltaic conversion
QUANTUM EFFICIENCY
Radiative recombination
SELENIDES
SELENIUM COMPOUNDS
SODIUM COMPOUNDS
SODIUM SULFATES
SOLAR CELLS
Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells
SOLAR ENERGY
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
Spontaneous emission
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
Surface treatment
THICKNESS
ZINC COMPOUNDS
ZINC SELENIDES
Solar cell
Gallium Arsenides
Surface recombination
Optical coating
Experimental study
Comparative study
Optimization
Passivation
Surface
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Summary:The optimum window material for surface passivation of GaAs solar cells is investigated using theoretical analysis of optical losses due to window bandgap energy and thickness. A simplified expression is developed to calculate the effective surface recombination velocity in terms of lattice mismatch between the window layer and GaAs, which suggests using a window material with and indirect bandgap energy greater than 2.0 eV, a thickness of less than 0.05 mu m, and a lattice mismatch of less than 0.05%. Experimental GaAs solar cells were fabricated and quantum efficiency measurements were made using no window (bare GaAs), Al/sub 0.7/Ga/sub 0.3/As, Na/sub 2/S, and ZnSe/Na/sub 2/S windows. The Al/sub 0.7/Ga/sub 0.3/As and Na/sub 2/S windows are shown to passivate the GaAs surface and reduce the surface recombination velocity to less than 10/sup 5/ cm/s, while the ZnSe encapsulating layer was used to permanently maintain the temporary surface passivation effects from Na/sub 2/S.< >
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
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ISSN:0018-9383
1557-9646
DOI:10.1109/16.202781