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Development of an IR-transparent, inverted-grown, thin-film, Al[sub 0. 34]Ga[sub 0. 66]As/GaAs cascade solar cell

Conference · · AIP Conference Proceedings (American Institute of Physics); (United States)
OSTI ID:6683864
; ; ; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 (United States)

Inverted growth and the development of associated cell processing, are likely to offer a significant degree of freedom for improving the performance of many III-V multijunction cascades and open new avenues for advanced multijunction concepts. This is especially true for the development of high-efficiency Al[sub 0.37]Ga[sub 0.63]As/GaAs cascades where the high growth temperatures required for the AlGaAs top cell growth can cause the deterioration of the tunnel junction interconnect. In the approach of inverted-grown AlGaAs/GaAs cascade cells, the AlGaAs top cell is grown first at 780 [degree]C and the GaAs tunnel junction and bottom cell are grown at 675 [degree]C. After the inverted growth, the AlGaAs/GaAs cascade structure is selectively removed from the parent substrate. The feasibility of inverted growth is demonstrated by a fully-processed, inverted-grown, thin film GaAs cell with a 1-sun AM1.5 efficiency of 20.3%. Also, an inverted-grown, thin-film, Al[sub 0.34]Ga[sub 0.66]As/GaAs cascade with AM1.5 efficiencies of 19.9% and 21% at 1-sun and 7-suns, respectively, has been obtained.

OSTI ID:
6683864
Report Number(s):
CONF-9205115--
Journal Information:
AIP Conference Proceedings (American Institute of Physics); (United States), Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings (American Institute of Physics); (United States) Vol. 268:1; ISSN 0094-243X; ISSN APCPCS
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English