Tunnel Junction Development Using Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy

Ptak, Aaron J.; Simon, John D.; Schulte, Kevin L.; Jain, Nikhil

doi:10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2756566

Title: Tunnel Junction Development Using Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy

Abstract

We demonstrate for the first time III-V tunnel junctions grown using hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) with peak tunneling currents >8 A/cm², sufficient for operation of a multijunction device to several hundred suns of concentration. Multijunction solar cells rely on tunneling interconnects between subcells to enable series connection with minimal voltage loss, but tunnel junctions have never been shown using the HVPE growth method. HVPE has recently reemerged as a low-cost growth method for high-quality III-V materials and devices, including the growth of high-efficiency III-V solar cells. We previously showed single-junction GaAs solar cells with conversion efficiencies of ~24% with a path forward to equal or exceed the practical efficiency limits of crystalline Si. Moving to a multijunction device structure will allow for even higher efficiencies with minimal impact on cost, necessitating the development of tunnel interconnects. Here in this paper, we demonstrate the performance of both isolated HVPE-grown tunnel junctions, as well as single-junction GaAs solar cell structures with a tunnel junction incorporated into the contact region. We observe no degradation in device performance compared to a structure without the added junction.

Authors:

Ptak, Aaron J. ^[1]; Simon, John D. ^[1]; Schulte, Kevin L. ^[1]; Jain, Nikhil ^[1]

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Publication Date:: Wed Oct 18 00:00:00 EDT 2017

Research Org.:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)

OSTI Identifier:: 1406185

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5J00-68632
Journal ID: ISSN 2156-3381

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 8; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2156-3381

Publisher:: IEEE

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 14 SOLAR ENERGY; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; gallium arsenide; hydride vapor phase epitaxy; photovoltaics; tunnel junctions

Citation Formats


                    Ptak, Aaron J., Simon, John D., Schulte, Kevin L., and Jain, Nikhil. Tunnel Junction Development Using Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy.  United States: N. p., 2017. 
Web.  doi:10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2756566.

Copy to clipboard


                    Ptak, Aaron J., Simon, John D., Schulte, Kevin L., & Jain, Nikhil. Tunnel Junction Development Using Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2756566

Copy to clipboard


                    Ptak, Aaron J., Simon, John D., Schulte, Kevin L., and Jain, Nikhil. Wed .  
"Tunnel Junction Development Using Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2756566.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1406185.

Copy to clipboard


                    
@article{osti_1406185,

  title        = {Tunnel Junction Development Using Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy},

  author       = {Ptak, Aaron J. and Simon, John D. and Schulte, Kevin L. and Jain, Nikhil},

  abstractNote = {We demonstrate for the first time III-V tunnel junctions grown using hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) with peak tunneling currents >8 A/cm2, sufficient for operation of a multijunction device to several hundred suns of concentration. Multijunction solar cells rely on tunneling interconnects between subcells to enable series connection with minimal voltage loss, but tunnel junctions have never been shown using the HVPE growth method. HVPE has recently reemerged as a low-cost growth method for high-quality III-V materials and devices, including the growth of high-efficiency III-V solar cells. We previously showed single-junction GaAs solar cells with conversion efficiencies of ~24% with a path forward to equal or exceed the practical efficiency limits of crystalline Si. Moving to a multijunction device structure will allow for even higher efficiencies with minimal impact on cost, necessitating the development of tunnel interconnects. Here in this paper, we demonstrate the performance of both isolated HVPE-grown tunnel junctions, as well as single-junction GaAs solar cell structures with a tunnel junction incorporated into the contact region. We observe no degradation in device performance compared to a structure without the added junction.},

  doi          = {10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2756566},

  journal      = {IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics},

  number       = 1,

  volume       = 8,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Wed Oct 18 00:00:00 EDT 2017},

  month        = {Wed Oct 18 00:00:00 EDT 2017}

}

Copy to clipboard

Journal Article:

Free Publicly Available Full Text

Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Publisher's Version of Record

https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2756566

Other availability

Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 11 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Export Metadata

Save to My Library

Works referencing / citing this record:

Gallium arsenide solar cells grown at rates exceeding 300 µm h−1 by hydride vapor phase epitaxy
journal, July 2019

Metaferia, Wondwosen; Schulte, Kevin L.; Simon, John
Nature Communications, Vol. 10, Issue 1
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11341-3

Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections:

Multijunction GaInP/GaAs Solar Cells Grown by Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy

Conference Schulte, Kevin L ; Simon, John D ; Ptak, Aaron J

We report the development of GaInP/GaAs monolithic tandem solar cells grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). HVPE is a route to reduced III-V growth costs because the technique takes advantage of low cost inputs (elemental metals and HCl) and high source utilization, and exhibits high growth rates (up to 5 Au/min). The tandem device consists of three main components: a 1.90 eV Ga0.5In0.5P top cell, a p-Ga0.5In0.5P/n-GaAs tunnel junction, and a 1.41 eV rear heterojunction GaAs cell. The open circuit voltage (VOC) of the tandem is 2.41 V, indicating high material quality in both subcells, and voltage addition throughmore »« less
Full Text Available
GaAs Solar Cells Grown by Hydride Vapor-Phase Epitaxy and the Development of GaInP Cladding Layers

Journal Article Simon, John ; Schulte, Kevin L. ; Young, David L. ; ... - IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics

The high cost of high-efficiency III-V photovoltaic devices currently limits them to niche markets. Hydride vapor-phase epitaxy (HVPE) growth of III-V materials recently reemerged as a low-cost, high-throughput alternative to conventional metal- organic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE) growth of high-efficiency solar cells. Previously, we demonstrated unpassivated HVPEgrown GaAs p-n junctions with good quantum efficiency and high open-circuit voltage (Voc). In this work, we demonstrate the growth of GaInPby HVPE for use as a high-quality surface passivation layer to GaAs solar cells. Solar cells grown with GaInP window layers show significantly improved quantum efficiency compared with unpassivated cells, increasing the short-circuit currentmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2015.2501723
24% Single-Junction GaAs Solar Cell Grown Directly on Growth-Planarized Facets Using Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy

Journal Article Braun, Anna K. ; Boyer, Jacob T. ; Schulte, Kevin L. ; ... - Advanced Energy Materials

Abstract A 24%‐efficient single‐junction GaAs solar cell grown directly on a faceted, spalled (100) GaAs substrate after in situ planarization growth by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) is achieved. Controlled spalling, a promising low‐cost substrate reuse technique, produces large facets in (100)‐oriented GaAs substrates due to the orientation of the fracture planes used for lift‐off. Planarization by HVPE offers a path toward direct use of these spalled substrates without costly polishing steps. Here, the growth rate anisotropy enabling planarization arising from diffusion and differences in the adsorption of growth species on {n11}B‐type facets relative to (100) is determined. Consecutive planarizationmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202302035
Upright and Inverted Single-Junction GaAs Solar Cells Grown by Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy

Journal Article Simon, John ; Schulte, Kevin L. ; Jain, Nikhil ; ... - IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics

Hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) is a low-cost alternative to conventional metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) growth of III-V solar cells. In this work, we show continued improvement of the performance of HVPE-grown single-junction GaAs solar cells. We show over an order of magnitude improvement in the interface recombination velocity between GaAs and GaInP layers through the elimination of growth interrupts, leading to increased short-circuit current density and open-circuit voltage compared with cells with interrupts. One-sun conversion efficiencies as high as 20.6% were achieved with this improved growth process. Solar cells grown in an inverted configuration that were removed frommore »« less
Cited by 32
https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2016.2614122

Full Text Available
InGaAsP Solar Cells Grown by Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy

Conference Jain, Nikhil ; Simon, John ; Schulte, Kevin L. ; ...

Hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) has recently reemerged as a low-cost, high-throughput alternative to metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) for the growth of high-efficiency III-V solar cells. Quaternary InGaAsP solar cells in the bandgap range of ~1.7-1.8 eV are promising top-cell candidates for integration in Ill-V/Si tandem cells with projected one-sun efficiencies exceeding 30%. In this work, we report on the development of lattice-matched InGaAsP solar cells grown on GaAs substrates via HVPE at very high growth rates of ~0.7 um/min. We demonstrate prototype 1.7 eV InGaAsP solar cells with an open-circuit voltage of 1.11 V. The short-circuit current ismore »« less
https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2016.7749781

Similar Records

Title: Tunnel Junction Development Using Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy

Abstract

Citation Formats

Gallium arsenide solar cells grown at rates exceeding 300 µm h−1 by hydride vapor phase epitaxy journal, July 2019

Gallium arsenide solar cells grown at rates exceeding 300 µm h−1 by hydride vapor phase epitaxy
journal, July 2019