SpringerLink
Log in

Increasing the Photocurrent of a Ga(In)As Subcell in Multijunction Solar Cells Based on GaInP/Ga(In)As/Ge Heterostructure

  • Published:
Technical Physics Letters Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Spectral characteristics of the Ga(In)As subcell of triple-junction GaInP/Ga(In)As/Ge solar cells have been experimentally and theoretically studied. It is established that the use of a wide-bandgap “window” layer with optimum thickness (100 nm for Ga0.51In0.49P, 110 nm for Al0.4Ga0.6As, and 115 nm for the Al0.8Ga0.2As) in Ga(In)As subcell allows the response photocurrent to be increased by about 0.5 mA/cm2; the change of material in the rear potential barrier of the GaInP subcell from Al0.53In0.47P to p+-Ga0.51In0.49P or AlGaAs allows the short-circuit current of Ga(In)As subcell to be additionally increased by about 0.8 mA/cm2; and the use of a wide-bandgap n++-Ga0.51In0.49P layer instead of n++-GaAs in the tunnel diode increases the photocurrent by about 1 mA/cm2.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. R. R. King, D. C. Law, C. M. Fetzer, R. A. Sherif, K. M. Edmondson, S. Kurtz, G. S. Kinsey, H. L. Cotal, D. D. Krut, J. H. Ermer, and N. H. Karam, in Proceedings of the 20th EPVSEC, Barcelona, Spain,2005, p. 118.

  2. R. R. King, D. C. Law, K. M. Edmondson, C. M. Fetzer, G. S. Kinsey, H. Yoon, R. A. Sherif, and N. H. Karam, Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 183516 (2007).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. W. Guter, J. Schone, S. P. Philipps, M. Steiner, G. Siefer, A. Wekkeli, E. Welser, E. Oliva, A. W. Bett, and F. Dimroth, Appl. Phys. Lett. 94, 223504 (2009).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. L. Barrutia, I. García, E. Barrigón, M. Ochoa, I. Lombardero, M. Hinojosa, P. Caño, J. Bautista, L. Cifuentes, I. Rey-Stolle, and C. Algora, in Proceedings of the 2018 Spanish Conference on Electron Devices (CDE) (IEEE, 2018), p. 8596996. https://doi.org/10.1109/CDE.2018.8596996

  5. M. Theristis and T. S. O’Donovan, Solar Energy 118, 533 (2015).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. M. Heini, A. Aierken, Z. H. Li, X. F. Zhao, M. Sailai, X. B. Shen, Y. Xu, H. T. Liu, Y. D. Li, Q. Guo, and C. M. Liu, AIP Adv. 8, 105022 (2018).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. J.-H. Kim, E. Y. Choi, B.-J. Kim, E. Han, and N. Park, Vacuum 162, 47 (2019).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. M. A. Green, K. Emery, Y. Hishikawa, W. Warta, and E. D. Dunlop, Prog. Photovolt.: Res. Appl. 23, 1 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. M. A. Stan, P. R. Sharps, N. S. Fatemi, F. S. Spadafora, D. J. Aiken, and H. Q. Hou, in Proceedings of the 28th IEEE PV Specialists Conference (IEEE, 2000), p. 1374.

  10. S. A. Mintairov, V. M. Andreev, V. M. Emel’yanov, N. A. Kalyuzhnyy, N. K. Timoshina, M. Z. Shvarts, and V. M. Lantratov, Semiconductors 44, 1084 (2010).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. N. A. Kalyuzhnyy, V. V. Evstropov, V. M. Lantratov, S. A. Mintairov, M. A. Mintairov, A. S. Gudovskikh, A. Luque, and V. M. Andreev, Int. J. Photoenergy 2014, 836284 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. F. Abelés, Ann. Phys. 12, 596 (1950).

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  13. A. M. Vasil’ev and A. P. Landsman, Semiconductor Photoconverters (Sovetskoe Radio, Moscow, 1971) [in Russian].

    Google Scholar 

  14. V. M. Andreev, V. M. Emelyanov, N. A. Kalyuzhnyy, V. M. Lantratov, S. A. Mintairov, M. Z. Shvarts, and N. K. Timoshina, in Proceedings of the 23rd EPVSEC, Valencia, Spain,2008, p. 375.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ioffe Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 194021, St. Petersburg, Russia

    S. A. Mintairov, V. M. Emel’yanov, N. A. Kalyuzhnyi, M. Z. Shvarts & V. M. Andreev

Authors
  1. S. A. Mintairov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. V. M. Emel’yanov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. N. A. Kalyuzhnyi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M. Z. Shvarts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. V. M. Andreev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. A. Mintairov.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Translated by P. Pozdeev

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mintairov, S.A., Emel’yanov, V.M., Kalyuzhnyi, N.A. et al. Increasing the Photocurrent of a Ga(In)As Subcell in Multijunction Solar Cells Based on GaInP/Ga(In)As/Ge Heterostructure. Tech. Phys. Lett. 45, 1258–1261 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063785019120253

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063785019120253

Keywords:

Search

Navigation