V. M. Lantratov

AlGaAs/GaAs photovoltaic cells with an array of InGaAs QDs

Specific features of the fabrication of AlGaAs/GaAs single-junction photovoltaic cells with an array of quantum dots (QDs) by molecular beam epitaxy have been studied. It was shown for the first time that, in principle, vertically coupled QDs can be incorporated, with no dislocations formed, into the structure of photovoltaic cells without any noticeable deterioration of the structural quality of the p-n junction. Owing to the additional absorption of the long-wavelength part of the solar spectrum in the QD medium and to the subsequent effective separation of photogenerated carriers, a ∼1% increase in the short-circuit current density Jsc was demonstrated for the first time in the world for photovoltaic cells with QDs. The maximum efficiency of the photovoltaic cells was 18.3% in conversion of the unconcentrated ground level solar spectrum AM1.5G.

High-efficiency dual-junction GaInP/GaAs tandem solar cells obtained by the method of MOCVD

Monolithic dual-junction GaInP/GaAs solar cells grown by the MOCVD method were studied. The conditions of the growth of ternary GaxIn1−xP and AlxIn1−xP alloys lattice-matched to GaAs are optimized. Technology for fabrication of a tunneling diode with a high peak current density of 207 A/cm2 on the basis of heavily doped n++-GaAs:Si and p++-AlGaAs:C layers is developed. Cascade GaInP/GaAs solar cells obtained as a result of relevant studies featuring a good efficiency of the solar-energy conversion both for space and terrestrial applications. The maximum value of the GaInP/GaAs solar-cell efficiency was 30.03% (at AM1.5D, 40 suns).

Current flow and potential efficiency of solar cells based on GaAs and GaSb p-n junctions

Dependence of the efficiency of single-junction and multijunction solar cells on the mechanisms of current flow in photoactive p-n junctions, specifically on the form of the dark current-voltage characteristic J-V, has been studied. The resistanceless J-Vj characteristic (with the series resistance disregarded) of a multijunction solar cell has the same shape as the characteristic of a single-junction cell: both feature a set of exponential portions. This made it possible to develop a unified analytical method for calculating the efficiency of singlejunction and multijunction solar cells. The equation relating the efficiency to the photogenerated current at each portion of the J-Vj characteristic is derived. For p-n junctions in GaAs and GaSb, the following characteristics were measured: the dark J-V characteristic, the dependence of the open-circuit voltage on the illumination intensity P-VOC, and the dependence of the luminescence intensity on the forward current L-J. Calculated dependences of potential efficiency (under idealized condition for equality to unity of external quantum yield) on the photogenerated current for single-junction GaAs and GaSb solar cells and a GaAs/GaSb tandem are plotted. The form of these dependences corresponds to the shape of J-Vj characteristics: there are the diffusion- and recombination-related portions; in some cases, the tunneling-trapping portion is also observed. At low degrees of concentration of solar radiation (C < 10), an appreciable contribution to photogenerated current is made by recombination component. It is an increase in this component in the case of irradiation with 6.78-MeV protons or 1-MeV electrons that brings about a decrease in the efficiency of conversion of unconcentrated solar radiation.

Germanium Subcells for Multijunction GaInP/GaInAs/Ge Solar Cells

Photovoltaic converters based on n-GaInP/n-p-Ge heterostructures grown by the OMVPE under different conditions of formation of the p-n junction are studied. The heterostructures are intended for use as narrow-gap subcells of the GaInP/GaInAs/Ge three-junction solar cells. It is shown that, in Ge p-tn junctions, along with the diffusion mechanism, the tunneling mechanism of the current flow exists; therefore, the two-diode electrical equivalent circuit of the Ge p-n junction is used. The diode parameters are determined for both mechanisms from the analysis of both dark and “light” current-voltage dependences. It is shown that the elimination of the component of the tunneling current allows one to increase the efficiency of the Ge subcell by ∼1% with conversion of nonconcentrated solar radiation. The influence of the tunneling current on the efficiency of the Ge-based devices can be in practice reduced to zero at photogenerated current density of ∼1.5 A/cm2 due to the use of the concentrated solar radiation.

Thermal annealing of defects in InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures with three-dimensional islands

A report is presented on the investigation of the influence of in situ annealing of the InGaAs layer in p-n InGaAs/GaAs structures grown by the metalloorganic chemical vapor deposition upon the formation of coherently strained three-dimensional islands. The structures were studied by the methods of capacitance-voltage measurements, deep-level transient spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and photoluminescence. It is established that three-dimensional islands with misfit dislocations are formed in the unannealed structure A, while quantum dots are formed in the annealed structure B. The deep-level defects were investigated. In structure A, defects of various types (EL2, EL3 (I3), I2, HL3, HS2, and H5) are present in the electron-accumulation layer. Concentrations of these traps are comparable to the shallow donor concentration, and the number of hole traps is higher than that of the electron traps. On the in situ annealing, the EL2 and EL3 defects, which are related to the formation of dislocations, disappear, and concentrations of the other defects decrease by an order of magnitude or more. For structure A, it is established that the population of the quantum states in the islands is controlled by the deep-level defects. In structure B, the effect of the Coulomb interaction of the charge carriers localized in the quantum dot with the ionized defects is observed.

AlGaAs/GaAs Photovoltaic Cells with InGaAs Quantum Dots

We studied the different carrier kinetic mechanisms involved into the interband absorption of quantum dots (QDs) by photocurrent spectroscopy. It was shown that in vertically coupled InGaAs QDs an effective carrier emission, collection and separation take place due to minizone formation. The possibility for the incorporation of vertically-coupled QDs into solar cells (SC) without any deterioration of structural quality of the p-i-n-junction has been shown. Due to the additional absorption of solar spectrum in QD media and the subsequent effective separation of photogenerated carriers, an increase (~1%) in short-circuit current density (Jsc) for the QD SC-devices has been demonstrated. However the insertion of QDs into intrinsic region reduced the open circuit voltage (Voc) of such devices. Moving the QD array in the base layer as well as including the Bragg reflector (BR) centered on 920 nm resulted in increase of the Voc. Moreover an improved absorption in the QD media for SC with BR led to further increase of Jsc (~1%). The efficiency for QD SCs at the level of 25% (30 suns AM1.5D) has been demonstrated.

Method for direct measurements of luminescent coupling efficiency in concentrator MJ SCs

A theoretical model describing the coupling effect for p-n junctions being in a direct optoelectronic contact in the multi-junction solar cell structures is elaborated. The experimental method for determination of the transfer function (coupling yield) is proposed. The method is realized at investigation of triple-junction GaInP/GaAs/Ge solar cells.

Wavelength-stabilized tilted wave lasers with a narrow vertical beam divergence

We studied laser diodes grown in the tilted wave geometry with cleaved facets. In this approach a cavity with the gain medium is coupled to the second cavity, while the phase matching of the modes of the two cavities results in the wavelength stabilization. The mode separation can be controlled by the tilt angle of the leaky wave emission and the thickness of the coupled cavity. In one case a ~100 µm thick transparent substrate with a polished and dielectric-coated back surface was used as a coupled waveguide. In the second case, a 10 µm thick GaAs layer followed by an InGaP evanescent reflector was applied. We observed an increase in the lasing mode wavelength spacing and the width of the vertical far-field lobes from ~0.7° to 5° (full width at half maximum, FWHM) with the reduction of the thickness of the coupled cavity, in agreement with expectations. The FWHM numbers correspond to the diffraction limit for 100 and 10 µm thick coupled waveguides, respectively. A high temperature stability of the lasing wavelengths (0.1 nm K−1) was revealed. The results indicate that a new generation of wavelength-stabilized lasers for applications requiring ultrahigh brightness and wavelength stabilization can be developed.

Record power characteristics of InGaAs/AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure lasers

Continuous-wave output powers of 9.2 W at a constant heatsink temperature of 10°C and 12.2 W at a stabilized temperature of the active region have been obtained on an InGaAs/AlGaAs laser with a 0.4-µm-thick waveguide, operating at 1.03 µm. Record-breaking output mirror power densities of, respectively, 29.9 and 40 MW/cm2 have been achieved without catastrophic optical mirror damage in the two temperature-stabilization regimes. A maximum power conversion efficiency of 66% has been achieved in a laser with a cavity length of 2 mm.

Study of minority carrier diffusion lengths in photoactive layers of multijunction solar cells

A technique for determining a minority carrier’s diffusion length in photoactive III–V layers of solar cells by approximating their spectral characteristics is presented. Single-junction GaAs, Ge and multi-junction GaAs/Ge, GaInP/GaAs, and GaInP/GaInAs/Ge solar cells fabricated by hydride metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy (H-MOVPE) have been studied. The dependences of the minority carrier diffusion length on the doping level of p-Ge and n-GaAs are determined. It is shown that the parameters of solid-state diffusion of phosphorus atoms to the p-Ge substrate from the n-GaInP nucleation layer are independent of the thickness of the latter within 35–300 nm. It is found that the diffusion length of subcells of multijunction structures in Ga(In)As layers is smaller in comparison with that of single-junction structures.