Title :
Thin-film GaAs solar cells by epitaxial lift-off
Author :
Lush, G.B. ; Patkar, M.P. ; Young, M.P. ; Melloch, M.R. ; Lundstrom, M.S. ; Vernon, S.M. ; Gagnon, E.D. ; Geoffroy, L.M. ; Sanfacon, M.M.
Author_Institution :
Sch. of Electr. Eng., Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN, USA
Abstract :
The authors have performed basic characterization studies of thin-film GaAs n/p and p/n solar cells made by epitaxial lift-off. They find that the internal quantum efficiency is enhanced by as much as 71% in these cells after lift-off due to the presence of a back reflector. An unalloyed, low series resistance back contact can be made with proper contacting techniques and using only van der Waals bonding to gold or palladium. These preliminary results show that thin-film solar cells can be processed without loss of film quality, and suggest that successful implementation of this design concept should lead to increased conversion efficiencies
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; electrical contacts; epitaxial growth; gallium arsenide; semiconductor device testing; semiconductor growth; semiconductor thin films; solar cells; van der Waals forces; Au; GaAs; Pd; back contact; back reflector; characterization; design; epitaxial lift-off; quality; series resistance; solar cells; thin-film semiconductors; van der Waals bonding; Bonding; Contact resistance; Crystallization; Gallium arsenide; Gold; Optical films; Photovoltaic cells; Radiative recombination; Substrates; Transistors;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1993., Conference Record of the Twenty Third IEEE
Conference_Location :
Louisville, KY
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-1220-1
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.1993.346923
