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U.S. Department of Energy
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Graded band-gap solar cells. Final report, 1 September 1984-30 September 1988

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5460042
The program has emphasized investigations of graded band-gap solar cells. The key objective was to determine the feasibility of obtaining high efficiencies with a graded-emitter heterojunction structure. The Al(x)Ga(1-x)As ternary system was selected for actual device fabrication and characterization. Interpretation of photoresponse data for graded devices indicated that the minority-carrier diffusion length was essentially zero for x equal to or greater than .25. This property of the AlGaAs films made it impossible to obtain the expected photocurrent from the graded devices. However, studies were carried out that clearly indicated that the structures with graded emitters were characterized by an enhanced photoresponse relative to homojunction devices.
Research Organization:
Washington Univ., Seattle, WA (USA)
OSTI ID:
5460042
Report Number(s):
AD-A-211537/6/XAB
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English