Photoelectrochemical behavior of indium phosphide arsenide alloys in acidic electrolytes

Journal Article · Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1984 · J. Electrochem. Soc.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1149/1.2115249· OSTI ID:6283490

Menezes, S; Bachmann, K J; Bedair, S; Breithaupt, B; Fearheilley, M; Lange, P; Lewerenz, H J; Morrison, C; Thiel, F A; Werner, A

Recently, the authors reported on electrodissolution and passivation phenomena on single crystal electrodes of the III-V compounds InP, InAs, InSb, GaP, GaAs, and GaSb in aqueous electrolytes. Considerable differences in the behavior are observed that are particularly pronounced in acid solutions. InAs and InP represent extreme cases: InAs does not passivate at pH about 0 except at very high current density (c.d.), but the films formed at high c.d. are too porous to prevent excessive surface corrosion. InP exhibits severe inhibition to anodic dissolution even in 4M HCl solution by the formation of a coherent film that can be removed only by extensive cathodic reduction. Also, they reported previously on p-InP/V/sup 2 +/-V/sup 3 +/, 4M HCl/C solar cells that represent efficient EIS junctions (3). The function of this device is thus intimately linked to the passivation behavior of p-InP (1). A similar condition has been observed for p-InP-indium-tin oxide (ITO) solar cells that represent efficient SIS junctions (4) where the dielectric is a phosphorus oxide film of tunneling thickness. Investigations in InP /SUB y/ As/sub 1/- /SUB y/ /ITO solar cells show that the dielectric becomes porous at ygreater than or equal to 0.85. At higher P concentration, the solar power conversion efficiency peaks presumably because of a reduction in the dielectric film thickness, but at lower P concentrations, the solar cell characteristic degrades steeply. In this paper, the passivation and electrodissolution behavior of alloys at the InAs-InP pseudobinary that show complete solid solubility over the entire range of compositions InP /SUB y/ As/sub 1/- /SUB y/ , 0 less than or equal to y less than or equal to 1 is reported.

• Research Organization: Hahn-Meitner Institut fur Kernforschung, Berlin
• OSTI ID: 6283490
• Journal Information: J. Electrochem. Soc.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Electrochem. Soc.; (United States) Vol. 131:10; ISSN JESOA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140505* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photochemical
Photobiological
& Thermochemical Conversion-- (1980-)
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400500 -- Photochemistry
ALLOYS
ARSENIC ALLOYS
ARSENIC COMPOUNDS
ARSENIDES
CATHODES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMISTRY
CURRENT DENSITY
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
ELECTRODES
ELECTROLYTES
EQUIPMENT
HYDROCHLORIC ACID
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INDIUM ALLOYS
INDIUM ARSENIDES
INDIUM COMPOUNDS
INDIUM PHOSPHIDES
INORGANIC ACIDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PASSIVATION
PERFORMANCE
PHOSPHIDES
PHOSPHORUS ADDITIONS
PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS
PHOTOCATHODES
PHOTOCHEMISTRY
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PNICTIDES
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
TIN COMPOUNDS
TIN OXIDES