Radial direct bandgap p-i-n GaNP microwire solar cells with enhanced short circuit current

Sukrittanon, Supanee; Liu, Ren; Breeden, Michael C.; Pan, Janet L.; Jungjohann, K. L.; Tu, Charles W.; Dayeh, Shadi A.

doi:10.1063/1.4959821

Title: Radial direct bandgap p-i-n GaNP microwire solar cells with enhanced short circuit current

Journal Article · Sun Aug 07 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4959821· OSTI ID:1340235

Sukrittanon, Supanee ^[1]; Liu, Ren ^[2]; Breeden, Michael C. ^[3]; Pan, Janet L. ^[2]; Jungjohann, K. L. ^[4]; Tu, Charles W. ^[5]; Dayeh, Shadi A. ^[5]

Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Graduate Program of Materials Science and Engineering
Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Univ. of California, La Jolla, CA (United States). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies
Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Graduate Program of Materials Science and Engineering and Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Here, we report the demonstration of dilute nitride heterostructure core/shell microwire solar cells utilizing the combination of top-down reactive-ion etching to create the cores (GaP) and molecular beam epitaxy to create the shells (GaNP). Systematic studies of cell performance over a series of microwire lengths, array periods, and microwire sidewall morphologies examined by transmission electron microscopy were conducted to shed light on performance-limiting factors and to optimize the cell efficiency. We also show by microscopy and correlated external quantum efficiency characterization that the open circuit voltage is degraded primarily due to the presence of defects at the GaP/GaNP interface and in the GaNP shells, and is not limited by surface recombination. Compared to thin film solar cells in the same growth run, the microwire solar cells exhibit greater short circuit current but poorer open circuit voltage due to greater light absorption and number of defects in the microwire structure, respectively. Finally, we present performance benefits of dilute nitride microwire solar cells and show that it can be achieved by further tuning of the epitaxial quality of the underlying materials.

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Research Organization:: Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC04-94AL85000; AC52-06NA25396

OSTI ID:: 1340235

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1280202

Report Number(s):: SAND2016-2940J; 637544; TRN: US1701738

Journal Information:: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 120, Issue 5; ISSN 0021-8979

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 2 works

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