Direct-gap 2.1–2.2 eV AlInP solar cells on GaInAs/GaAs metamorphic buffers

AlInP offers the highest direct bandgap (Eg) among non-nitride III-V materials, making it attractive for top cell applications in 5-6 junction solar cells. We present novel 2.07-2.19 eV, direct-gap AlInP solar cells, grown on GaInAs/GaAs graded buffers by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Des...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in2015 IEEE 42nd Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC) pp. 1 - 4
Main Authors Vaisman, Michelle, Mukherjee, Kunal, Masuda, Taizo, Yaung, Kevin Nay, Fitzgerald, Eugene A., Lee, Minjoo Larry
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 01.06.2015
Subjects
AlInP
Junctions
Photonic band gap
Photovoltaic cells
Photovoltaic systems
Physics
wide bandgap
Zinc
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Summary:AlInP offers the highest direct bandgap (Eg) among non-nitride III-V materials, making it attractive for top cell applications in 5-6 junction solar cells. We present novel 2.07-2.19 eV, direct-gap AlInP solar cells, grown on GaInAs/GaAs graded buffers by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Despite the high Al content of 36-39% in the active regions, SIMS results indicate oxygen concentrations less than 2.3×10 16 cm -3 . The AlInP devices we present here exhibit superior photovoltaic performance to GaP and are comparable to metamorphic GaInP solar cells, reaching a Eg-voltage offset of 0.58 V. Design enhancements based on device and material characterization led to improvements of up to 65% in short circuit current density from our first-generation AlInP devices. The promising results in this work provide an alternative path towards realizing high-Eg top junctions with applications in upright metamorphic multijunction solar cells.
DOI:10.1109/PVSC.2015.7356435