Design of high efficiency solar cells by photoluminescence studies

Author

Ahrenkiel, R. ; Dunlavy, D. ; Keyes, B. ; Vernon, S. ; Tobin, S. ; Dixon, T.

Author_Institution

Solar Energy Res. Inst., Golden, CO, USA

fYear

1990

fDate

21-25 May 1990

Firstpage

432

Abstract

A metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) Al_xGa _1-xAs passivated GaAs single-junction solar cell with AM1.5 efficiency of 24.8% was recently constituted. Growth process research was greatly expedited by complementary time-resolved photoluminescence measurements on double heterostructures. The latter simulated the active regions of the solar cell and produced values of the minority carrier lifetime and interface recombination velocity of the components of the solar cell. Photon recycling was shown to be a significant process in the effective lifetime of the various structures. Interface recombination was found to limit the lifetime in materials grown at temperatures below 740°C

Keywords

CVD coatings; III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; carrier lifetime; electron-hole recombination; gallium arsenide; minority carriers; passivation; photoluminescence; solar cells; 24.8 percent; Al_xGa_1-xAs-GaAs single junction solar cell; MOCVD; double heterostructures; interface recombination velocity; metalorganic chemical vapor deposition; minority carrier lifetime; photon recycling; semiconductor; time-resolved photoluminescence measurements; Artificial intelligence; Charge carrier lifetime; DH-HEMTs; Design optimization; Gallium arsenide; Heterojunctions; Photoluminescence; Photovoltaic cells; Spontaneous emission; Temperature;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1990., Conference Record of the Twenty First IEEE

Conference_Location

Kissimmee, FL

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.1990.111661

Filename

111661