Thin film gallium arsenide homojunction solar cells

Conference · Wed Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1982 · Conf. Rec. IEEE Photovoltaic Spec. Conf.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5426066

Chu, S S; Chen, W J; Chu, T L; Wang, Q H; Zhang, F S

Polycrystalline gallium arsenide films with grain size of 2 to 10 ..mu..m, deposited on tungsten/graphite substrates by the halide process, have been used for the fabrication of p/sup +//n/n/sup +/ homojunction solar cells. A major problem associated with this type of thin film cells is the grain boundary shunting effect. A number of grain boundary passivation techniques have been investigated for the thin film gallium arsenide homojunction solar cells. Heat treatment has been found to be effective for reducing the dark current, and thin film gallium arsenide homojunction solar cells of 1 cm/sup 2/ area with an AM1 efficiency of 8.8% have been produced. To further improve the conversion efficiency, a new deposition technique has been developed to prepare gallium arsenide films of 3-4 ..mu..m thickness with grain size of several hundred micrometers.

• Research Organization: Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
• OSTI ID: 5426066
• Report Number(s): CONF-820906-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Conf. Rec. IEEE Photovoltaic Spec. Conf.; (United States)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
CARBON
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
CRYSTALS
DIMENSIONS
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
EFFICIENCY
ELEMENTAL MINERALS
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
FABRICATION
FILMS
GALLIUM ARSENIDE SOLAR CELLS
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
GRAIN SIZE
GRAPHITE
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HEAT TREATMENTS
JUNCTIONS
METALS
MICROSTRUCTURE
MINERALS
NITROGEN
NONMETALS
P-N JUNCTIONS
PASSIVATION
PHOSPHORUS
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
POLYCRYSTALS
QUANTUM EFFICIENCY
SEMICONDUCTOR JUNCTIONS
SIZE
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SUBSTRATES
SURFACE AREA
SURFACE PROPERTIES
THICKNESS
THIN FILMS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
TUNGSTEN