A. Rockett

Valence‐band discontinuities of wurtzite GaN, AlN, and InN heterojunctions measured by x‐ray photoemission spectroscopy

The valence‐band discontinuities at various wurtzite GaN, AlN, and InN heterojunctions were measured by means of x‐ray photoemission spectroscopy. A significant forward–backward asymmetry was observed in the InN/GaN–GaN/InN and InN/AlN–AlN/InN heterojunctions. The asymmetry was understood as a piezoelectric strain effect. We report the valence band discontinuities for InN/GaN=1.05±0.25 eV, GaN/AlN=0.70±0.24 eV, and InN/AlN=1.81±0.20 eV, all in the standard type I lineup. These values obey transitivity to within the experimental accuracy. Tables of photoemission core level binding energies are reported for wurtzite GaN, AlN, and InN.

Ultrathin silicon solar microcells for semitransparent, mechanically flexible and microconcentrator module designs

The high natural abundance of silicon, together with its excellent reliability and good efficiency in solar cells, suggest its continued use in production of solar energy, on massive scales, for the foreseeable future. Although organics, nanocrystals, nanowires and other new materials hold significant promise, many opportunities continue to exist for research into unconventional means of exploiting silicon in advanced photovoltaic systems. Here, we describe modules that use large-scale arrays of silicon solar microcells created from bulk wafers and integrated in diverse spatial layouts on foreign substrates by transfer printing. The resulting devices can offer useful features, including high degrees of mechanical flexibility, user-definable transparency and ultrathin-form-factor microconcentrator designs. Detailed studies of the processes for creating and manipulating such microcells, together with theoretical and experimental investigations of the electrical, mechanical and optical characteristics of several types of module that incorporate them, illuminate the key aspects.

CuInSe2 for photovoltaic applications

The properties and most successful methods for producing CuInSe2 films for solar‐cell applications are reviewed and the production, analysis, and performance of photovoltaic devices based on CuInSe2 are discussed. The most successful methods for depositing thin CuInSe2 films for high‐efficiency solar cells are three‐source elemental evaporation and selenization of Cu/In layers in H2Se atmospheres. Devices based on CuInSe2 have achieved the highest conversion efficiencies for any nonepitaxial thin‐film solar cell, 14.1% for a small cell and 10.4% (aperture efficiency) for a 3916‐cm2 (4 sq. ft) device. Furthermore, high‐efficiency devices have been produced by several groups and have shown no evidence of degradation of performance with time. The internal quantum efficiency is remarkably close to 100%, although various losses prevent making use of all of the generated carriers. The high performance results, in part, from the very‐high‐absorption coefficient of CuInSe2, which is of the order of 105 cm−1 for photons with energies slightly above 1 eV. Models of the operation of CuInSe2/CdS heterojunctions have begun to explain the processes limiting the device performance. The success of the models is based, in part, on the large amount of data which has accumulated on CuInSe2 in spite of the relatively short time it has been extensively studied.

Photovoltaic manufacturing: Present status, future prospects, and research needs

In May 2010 the United States National Science Foundation sponsored a two-day workshop to review the state-of-the-art and research challenges in photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing. This article summarizes the major conclusions and outcomes from this workshop, which was focused on identifying the science that needs to be done to help accelerate PV manufacturing. A significant portion of the article focuses on assessing the current status of and future opportunities in the major PV manufacturing technologies. These are solar cells based on crystalline silicon (c-Si), thin films of cadmium telluride (CdTe), thin films of copper indium gallium diselenide, and thin films of hydrogenated amorphous and nanocrystalline silicon. Current trends indicate that the cost per watt of c-Si and CdTe solar cells are being reduced to levels beyond the constraints commonly associated with these technologies. With a focus on TW/yr production capacity, the issue of material availability is discussed along with the emerging technologies of dye-sensitized solar cells and organic photovoltaics that are potentially less constrained by elemental abundance. Lastly, recommendations are made for research investment, with an emphasis on those areas that are expected to have cross-cutting impact.

Valence‐band discontinuity between GaN and AlN measured by x‐ray photoemission spectroscopy

The valence‐band discontinuity at a wurtzite GaN/AlN(0001) heterojunction is measured by x‐ray photoemission spectroscopy. The method first measures the core level binding energies with respect to the valence‐band maximum in both GaN and AlN bulk films. The precise location of the valence‐band maximum is determined by aligning prominent features in the valence‐band spectrum with calculated densities of states. Tables of core level binding energies relative to the valence‐band maximum are reported for both GaN and AlN. Subsequent measurements of separations between Ga and Al core levels for thin overlayers of GaN film grown on AlN and vice versa yield a valence‐band discontinuity of ΔEV=0.8±0.3 eV in the standard type I heterojunction alignment.

Effect of Ga content on defect states in CuIn1−xGaxSe2 photovoltaic devices

Defects in the band gap of CuIn1−xGaxSe2 have been characterized using transient photocapacitance spectroscopy. The measured spectra clearly show response from a band of defects centered around 0.8 eV from the valence band edge as well as an exponential distribution of band tail states. Despite Ga contents ranging from Ga/(In+Ga)=0.0 to 0.8, the defect bandwidth and its position relative to the valence band remain constant. This defect band may act as an important recombination center, contributing to the decrease in device efficiency with increasing Ga content.

Growth and properties of single crystal TiN films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering

Epitaxial stoichiometric (111)‐oriented TiN films have been grown on cleaved MgO by dc reactive magnetron sputtering from pure Ti targets at substrate temperatures Ts ranging from 525–800 °C. The films were grown in mixed Ar/N2 discharges with the total sputtering pressure maintained constant at 3.5 mTorr (0.47 Pa). For Ts≲600 °C, N2 partial pressures PN2 that were either below or above a narrow range of values, which depended upon Ts, resulted in under‐ or over‐stoichiometric films, respectively. However, at Ts≳600 °C, stoichiometric films could be obtained at any PN2, including pure N2, greater than a critical N2 partial pressure that varied from 0.2 to 0.4 mTorr (27 to 53 mPa) as Ts was increased from 600 to 800 °C. The Vickers hardness H, the room temperature resistivity ρ, and the temperature coefficient of resistivity TCR of stoichiometric TiN single crystals were found to be essentially independent of Ts and PN2. H was determined to be 2300±200 kg mm−2, about 15% higher than for bulk sintered TiN, ...

GaN grown on hydrogen plasma cleaned 6H-SiC substrates

We report epitaxial GaN layers grown on 6H‐SiC (0001) substrates. A two stage substrate preparation procedure is described which effectively removes oxygen from the SiC substrate surface without the need of elaborate high temperature processing. In the first step, dangling Si bonds on the substrate surface are hydrogen passivated using a HF dip before introduction into vacuum. Second, the substrate is treated with a hydrogen plasma reducing the amount of oxygen‐carbon bonding to below the x‐ray photoemission detection limit. Upon heating in the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth chamber, the SiC substrates are observed to have a sharp (1×1) reconstruction with Kikuchi lines readily visible. GaN epilayers deposited on AlN buffer layers by plasma enhanced MBE show sharp x‐ray diffraction and photoluminescence peaks.

Thermal desorption of ultraviolet–ozone oxidized Ge(001) for substrate cleaning

X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), and reflection high‐energy electron diffraction (RHEED) have been used to show that 30 min exposures of a degreased and deionized‐water‐rinsed Ge(001) wafer to ultraviolet (UV)–ozone in laboratory air is sufficient to remove C contamination and form a nonpermeable passive amorphous GeO2 layer with a thickness of ≂1.8 nm. Subsequent annealing in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) at ≥390 °C for ≥30 min resulted in desorption of the oxide layer and the exposure of a clean well‐ordered Ge(001)2×1 surface. No impurities, including C and O, were detected by either XPS or AES. EELS spectra from the clean surface showed well‐defined peaks corresponding to transitions involving dangling bonds, surface states, and surface plasmons. Shorter UV–ozone exposures (i.e., <30 min) often resulted in residual C contamination while incomplete oxide removal was obtained at lower oxide desorption temperatures. Ge overlayer...

Structural, optical, and electrical properties of epitaxial chalcopyrite CuIn3Se5 films

Single crystal CuIn3Se5 epitaxial films have been synthesized on GaAs(001) by a hybrid sputtering and evaporation technique. The microstructure, microchemistry, and selected electrical and optical properties of the films have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x‐ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, cathodoluminescence, optical absorption and reflection, and four‐point probe resistivity measurements. The results showed that the CuIn3Se5 crystals have an ordered point defect structure, a band gap of ≥1.18 eV, an optical absorption coefficient of about 15 000 cm−1 at a photon energy of 1.35 eV, and a film resistivity of ≳105 Ω cm. The results suggest the presence of band tails giving rise to subgap radiative recombination and absorption. Antiphase domain boundaries, stacking faults, and nanotwins were observed in the epitaxial layers and were reduced in number by rapid thermal annealing.