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

Sukrittanon, Supanee; Liu, Ren; Pan, Janet L.; Breeden, Michael C.; Jungjohann, K. L.

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:22597743

Sukrittanon, Supanee ^[1]; Liu, Ren; Pan, Janet L. ^[2]; Breeden, Michael C. ^[3]; Jungjohann, K. L. ^[4]

Graduate Program of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92037 (United States)
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92037 (United States)
Department of Nanoengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92037 (United States)
Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185 (United States)

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 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. The comprehensive understanding presented in this work suggests that performance benefits of dilute nitride microwire solar cells can be achieved by further tuning of the epitaxial quality of the underlying materials.

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OSTI ID:: 22597743

Journal Information:: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 120, Issue 5; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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