skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Doping and electronic properties of GaAs grown by close-spaced vapor transport from powder sources for scalable III–V photovoltaics

Journal Article · · Energy & Environmental Science
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/C4EE01943A· OSTI ID:1214554
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [1]
  1. University of Oregon, Eugene, OR (United States). Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
  2. University of Oregon, Eugene, OR (United States). Department of Physics.
  3. University of Oregon, Eugene, OR (United States). Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
  4. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (United States). The Molecular Foundry.
+ Show Author Affiliations

The high balance-of-system costs of photovoltaic (PV) installations indicate that reductions in cell $/W costs alone are likely insufficient for PV electricity to reach grid parity unless energy conversion efficiency is also increased. Technologies which yield both high-efficiency cells (>25%) and maintain low costs are needed. GaAs and related III-V semiconductors are used in the highest-efficiency single- and multi-junction photovoltaics, but the technology is too expensive for non-concentrated terrestrial applications. This is due in part to the difficulty of scaling the metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) process, which relies on expensive reactors and employs toxic and pyrophoric gas-phase precursors such as arsine and trimethyl gallium, respectively. In this study, we describe GaAs films made by an alternative close-spaced vapor transport (CSVT) technique which is carried out at atmospheric pressure and requires only bulk GaAs, water vapor, and a temperature gradient in order to deposit crystalline films with similar electronic properties to that of GaAs deposited by MOCVD. CSVT is similar to the vapor transport process used to deposit CdTe thin films and is thus a potentially scalable low-cost route to GaAs thin films.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, OR (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; EE00065957; EE0005957
OSTI ID:
1214554
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1222721
Report Number(s):
DOE-UO-05957-1; EESNBY
Journal Information:
Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 8, Issue 1; ISSN 1754-5692
Publisher:
Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 29 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (42)

Strong Internal and External Luminescence as Solar Cells Approach the Shockley–Queisser Limit journal July 2012
Design of GaAs Solar Cells Operating Close to the Shockley–Queisser Limit journal April 2013
Solar cell efficiency tables (version 43): Solar cell efficiency tables journal December 2013
The potential of III-V semiconductors as terrestrial photovoltaic devices journal January 2006
Growth of semiconductors by the close-spaced vapor transport technique: A review journal October 1988
The Use of Close Spacing in Chemical-Transport Systems for Growing Epitaxial Layers of Semiconductors journal January 1963
Die “sandwich-methode”—Ein neues Verfahren zur herstellung epitaktisch gewachsener halbleiterschichten journal November 1963
GaAs-on-silicon conformal vapor-phase epitaxy using reversible transport and selective etching reactions with water vapour journal May 2001
Selectively-grown InGaP/GaAs on silicon heterostructures for application to photovoltaic–photoelectrolysis cells journal May 2001
Requirements for a 20%-efficient polycrystalline GaAs solar cell conference January 1997
High-efficiency GaAs solar cells on mm and sub-mm grain-size polycrystalline Ge substrates
  • Venkatasubramanian, R.; O’Quinn, B.; Siivola, E.
  • National renewable energy laboratory and sandia national laboratories photovoltaics program review meeting, AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.52846
conference January 1997
Large-grain (>1-mm), recrystallized germanium films on alumina, fused silica, oxide-coated silicon substrates for III–V solar cell applications journal March 2003
GROWTH AND CHARACTERIZATION OF GaAsp-n JUNCTIONS OBTAINED BY THE CSVT TECHNIQUE USING ATOMIC HYDROGEN journal August 2001
The Close-Spaced Growth of Degenerate P-Type GaAs, GaP, and Ga(As[sub x], P[sub 1−x]) by ZnCl[sub 2] Transport for Tunnel Diodes journal January 1968
Efficient n -GaAs Photoelectrodes Grown by Close-Spaced Vapor Transport from a Solid Source journal December 2011
n ‐type GaAs photoanodes in acetonitrile: Design of a 10.0% efficient photoelectrode journal July 1983
Close-spaced epitaxial growth of GaAsx P1-X from powder GaAs and GaP journal May 1968
Electron mobility and free‐carrier absorption in GaAs: Determination of the compensation ratio journal February 1979
Empirical low-field mobility model for III–V compounds applicable in device simulation codes journal March 2000
Towards low-cost high-efficiency GaAs photovoltaics and photoelectrodes grown via vapor transport from a solid source conference May 2013
A review of the theory and technology for ohmic contacts to group III–V compound semiconductors journal June 1975
Photoelectrochemical Behavior of n-GaAs and n-Al x Ga 1 - x As in CH 3 CN journal June 2000
Semiconductor electrodes. 24. Behavior of photoelectrochemical cells based on p-type gallium arsenide in aqueous solutions journal May 1980
Semiconductor Electrodes journal January 1979
Electrochemical Nanostructuring of n -GaAs Photoelectrodes journal July 2013
Stability of n-Si/CH3OH Contacts as a Function of the Reorganization Energy of the Electron Donor journal May 1995
Flat-Band Potential of a Semiconductor: Using the Mott–Schottky Equation journal April 2007
Electron beam‐induced current in direct band‐gap semiconductors journal December 1981
Effects of passivating ionic films on the photoluminescence properties of GaAs journal December 1987
Oxygen in gallium arsenide journal January 1991
Doping and residual impurities in GaAs layers grown by close‐spaced vapor transport journal February 1993
Doping of GaAs epitaxial layers grown on (100) GaAs by close-spaced vapor transport journal April 1989
Vapor Phase Transport and Epitaxial Growth of GaAs[sub 1−x]P[sub x] Using Water Vapor journal January 1965
Electrical Characterization of GaAs Epitaxial Layers Grown by CSVT from Zn-doped GaAs Sources journal January 1991
Trends in the open circuit voltage of semiconductor/liquid interfaces: studies of n-aluminum gallium arsenide/acetonitrile-ferrocene+/0 and n-aluminum gallium arsenide/potassium hydroxide-selenide-/2- (aq) junctions journal February 1991
Electron Transport in GaAs journal April 1971
Depletion-Layer Photoeffects in Semiconductors journal October 1959
Studies of the gallium arsenide/potassium hydroxide-selenium ion (Se22-)/selenide semiconductor/liquid junction journal April 1989
820 mV open-circuit voltages from Cu2O/CH3CN junctions journal January 2011
Chemical studies of the passivation of GaAs surface recombination using sulfides and thiols journal December 1991
Electrodeposition of Crystalline GaAs on Liquid Gallium Electrodes in Aqueous Electrolytes journal December 2012
Single-junction GaAsP solar cells grown on SiGe graded buffers on Si journal November 2013

Cited By (2)

Arsenic antisite and oxygen incorporation trends in GaAs grown by water-mediated close-spaced vapor transport journal March 2017
Enhanced thermoelectric performance in single-crystal-like semiconducting flexible GaAs films journal March 2019

Similar Records

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
photovoltaic cells
gallium arsenide
close-spaced vapor transport (CSVT)
III-V semi conductor materials