Multiple growths of epitaxial lift-off solar cells from a single InP substrate

Journal Article · Mon Sep 06 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3479906· OSTI ID:21466916

Lee, Kyusang ^[1]; Shiu, Kuen-Ting ^[1]; Zimmerman, Jeramy D; Forrest, Stephen R ^[1]; Renshaw, Christopher K ^[2]

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1. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 (United States)
2. Applied Physics Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 (United States)

We demonstrate multiple growths of flexible, thin-film indium tin oxide-InP Schottky-barrier solar cells on a single InP wafer via epitaxial lift-off (ELO). Layers that protect the InP parent wafer surface during the ELO process are subsequently removed by selective wet-chemical etching, with the active solar cell layers transferred to a thin, flexible plastic host substrate by cold welding at room temperature. The first- and second-growth solar cells exhibit no performance degradation under simulated Atmospheric Mass 1.5 Global (AM 1.5G) illumination, and have a power conversion efficiency of {eta}{sub p}=14.4{+-}0.4% and {eta}{sub p}=14.8{+-}0.2%, respectively. The current-voltage characteristics for the solar cells and atomic force microscope images of the substrate indicate that the parent wafer is undamaged, and is suitable for reuse after ELO and the protection-layer removal processes. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, reflection high-energy electron diffraction observation, and three-dimensional surface profiling show a surface that is comparable or improved to the original epiready wafer following ELO. Wafer reuse over multiple cycles suggests that high-efficiency; single-crystal thin-film solar cells may provide a practical path to low-cost solar-to-electrical energy conversion.

• OSTI ID: 21466916
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 97, Issue 10; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3479906; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY
ELECTRON DIFFRACTION
ENERGY CONVERSION
ETCHING
INDIUM PHOSPHIDES
LAYERS
MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY
MONOCRYSTALS
PERFORMANCE
QUANTUM EFFICIENCY
SCHOTTKY BARRIER SOLAR CELLS
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SUBSTRATES
SURFACES
THIN FILMS
TIN OXIDES
WELDING
X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
CHALCOGENIDES
COHERENT SCATTERING
CONVERSION
CRYSTAL GROWTH METHODS
CRYSTALS
DIFFRACTION
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
EPITAXY
EQUIPMENT
FABRICATION
FILMS
INDIUM COMPOUNDS
JOINING
MATERIALS
MICROSCOPY
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOSPHIDES
PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PNICTIDES
SCATTERING
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SPECTROSCOPY
SURFACE FINISHING
TIN COMPOUNDS