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Material quality and dislocation trapping in hydrogen passivated heteroepitaxial InP/GaAs and InP/Ge solar cells

Conference ·
OSTI ID:191218
; ; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
  2. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Cleveland, OH (United States). Lewis Research Center
Plasma hydrogenation has recently been demonstrated to be highly effective in passivating dislocations in heteroepitaxial InP and is a promising technique for achieving viable heteroepitaxial InP cells. In this paper, the effects of hydrogen on the fundamental properties of three dislocation related hole traps in heteroepitaxial InP/GaAs are presented. Hydrogen passivation significantly alters the dislocation trapping kinetics, causing point defect-like behavior consistent with a transformation from dislocation-related defect bands within the InP bandgap to a low concentration of individual deep levels after hydrogenation. Furthermore, hydrogen passivation is shown to shift the dominant space charge generation center from E{sub c}-0.71 eV to E{sub c}-0.92 eV, away from midgap. A model is proposed which explains these effects on the basis of decreased electronic interaction between dislocation sites. Finally, a comparison of InP material quality grown on GaAs, Ge and GaAs/Ge substrates is presented, and hydrogen passivation of InP/GaAs/Ge structures is reported.
OSTI ID:
191218
Report Number(s):
CONF-941203--; ISBN 0-7803-1459-X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English