Development of IMM-α and Z4J Radiation Hard III-V Solar Cells

Derkacs, Daniel; Aiken, D.; Bittner, Zachary S.; Cruz, Samantha C.; Haas, A. W.; Hart, John; McPheeters, Clay; Kerestes, Christopher; Miller, Nate; Patel, Pravin; Riley, Mike; Sharps, Paul; Stavrides, A.; Struempel, Claudia; Whipple, Steven

doi:10.1109/pvsc.2018.8547857

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The IMM based solar cells have a more than three times higher power-to-mass ratio in comparison to the thinned Germanium based devices. The IMM-a from Solaero [7] is an IMM based solar cell but permanently bonded to a robust substrate and therefore not as lightweight as the other IMM based cells. The ISE/tf2 simulation target assumes an areal mass density of 11.27 mg/cm 2 (as for the Gen IV IMM3J) and the realistic efficiency potential of 35.9% of the IMM4J design with a bandgap spread from 2.10 eV to 1.00 eV.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, NREL presented an inverted metamorphic triple-junction cell with an middle cell absorber that includes a GaInAs/GaAsP superlattice with an efficiency of 34.2% under the AM0 reference spectrum [4]. Typical commercial available space solar cells from Spectrolab, Solaero and Azur Space [5][6][7] show efficiencies above 31% under the AM0 spectrum at begin of life.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ultra-lightweight and flexible inverted metamorphic four junction solar cells for space applications

Klitzke

Schön

Leest³

et al. 2022

EPJ Photovolt.

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In this work an inverted metamorphic four junction (IMM4J) solar cell with 30.9% conversion efficiency in beginning of life conditions under the AM0 (1367 W/m2) spectrum is presented. Additionally, our newest improved IMM3J cell, consisting of Ga0.51In0.49P/GaAs/Ga0.73In0.27As subcells, with 30.6% efficiency is also shown. The IMM4J solar cells consist of Al0.05Ga0.46In0.49P/Al0.14Ga0.86As/Ga0.89In0.11As/Ga0.73In0.27As subcells and are epitaxially grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) on a GaAs substrate. These IMM solar cells achieve power-to-mass ratios of 3 W/g or more, which is more than three times higher than standard germanium based triple or four junction space solar cells. The losses in comparison to the simulated near-term potential efficiency of 33.8% for the IMM4J are analyzed in detail. Furthermore, the irradiation behavior for 1 MeV electron fluences of 1 × 1014 e−/cm2 and 2.5 × 1014 e−/cm2 for the IMM4J cells was investigated. A roadmap to further develop this concept towards an IMM5J with a realistic begin of life (BOL) efficiency potential of 35.9% under AM0 is presented.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra-lightweight and flexible inverted metamorphic four junction solar cells for space applications

Klitzke

Schön

Leest³

et al. 2022

EPJ Photovolt.

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“…Further research in the anti-radiation investigation of IIIA-VA-based materials (such as GaAs) may enable space application in various space solar panels. [210][211][212][213] With a long lifetime and high mobility in bulk systems, GaAs demonstrate the potential to avoid DD in a harsh environment. [214][215][216][217] Figure 17a shows the PL spectra of the GaAs-50 NWs at different H + ions irradiation.…”

Section: Other Types Of Semiconductors-based Tftsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiation‐Tolerant Electronic Devices Using Wide Bandgap Semiconductors

Muhammad

Wang

Zhang

et al. 2022

Adv Materials Technologies

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These energetic particles, such as electrons, protons, neutrons, X-rays, or gamma rays, induced damage in materials (used in electronic devices) through total ionization and displacement, [4] which would affect the reliability of the electronic devices. [5][6][7] Electronics failure occurs in harsh and inaccessible environments through various paths, such as electromagnetic waves, nuclear reactions, and high-frequency communications systems. Therefore, the radiationhardened requirements of the deployed electronic technology depend on the specific high-energy photons and particles in the radiation environment. For example, Mars exploration requires a special proton anti-radiation in electronics. At the same time, the safety supervision and inspection of the contaminated nuclear area are suggested to be equipped with high resilience towards the alpha, beta, and gamma rays. The development of radiation-hard electric circuits over the years has led researchers to consider the application of functional anti-irradiation material to devices. The current focus is on developing complementary metal-oxide semiconductors (CMOS) with wide bandgap semiconductors (WBGs), which are well suited to large-area aerospace applications. [8][9][10] As shown in Figure 1, a notable material class of WBGs can be listed as metal oxides (MOS), transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), silicon carbide, gallium nitride, and others. WBGs materials contribute robust properties under harsh conditions due to their strong electronic compliance, high-temperature competence, and strong atomic bond energy. [11][12][13][14][15][16] They have been proposed as favorable materials for aerospace and other radiation-hardened applications. Generally, the bandgap in the semiconductor reflects the extra energy that a valence electron must access to become a free electron. Its large bandgap of more than 3 eV guarantees inherent reliability in the semiconductors, providing transparency for the low-energy photons. The large, spherical nsorbitals in the conduction band (CB) of MOS also play a critical role in high dopability for hosting a high density of electrons, leading to the remarkably tolerance to various radiation fluences. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] Understanding the apparent immunity of the WBGs to various radiation environments and radiation-hard electronic engineering would be critical for pushing the technology further and understanding its limitations. Efforts to address these issues have been underway over the past two decades. Substantial progress has also been made in designing radiation-hard thin films transistors (TFTs) with ZnO, Ga 2 O 3 , In 2 O 3 , SnO 2 , IGZO, SiC, GaN, and many other WBGs, The aspiration of electronic technologies that are resistant to high-energy cosmic radiation is essential for current harsh radiation environment exploration. Integrated circuits mostly require post-processing after designing, making their structures more complex than the standard systems. Thus, unique de...

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“…2 The second approach to mitigate radiation damage is to increase the intrinsic radiation tolerance of the solar cells through choice of semiconductor materials and/or device architectures with enhanced radiation robustness, which experience less degradation for a given radiation exposure. [3][4][5][6][7] State-of-the-art space solar panels composed of III-V multijunction solar cells 8,9 are attractive because of high power conversion efficiencies (>30 % under extraterrestrial solar spectrum (AM0)), enabling a reduction in the panel area for a given mission. The development of thinnedsubstrate 10 and epitaxial lift-off (ELO) 11 technologies have allowed extremely thin III-V solar cells to be produced, such that the mass of the panels using these cells would be dominated largely by 4 the requisite radiation-shielding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…State-of-the-art space solar panels composed of III–V multijunction solar cells , are attractive because of high-power conversion efficiencies (>30% under extraterrestrial solar spectrum (AM0)), enabling a reduction in the panel area for a given mission. The development of thinned-substrate and epitaxial lift-off (ELO) technologies have allowed extremely thin III–V solar cells to be produced, such that the mass of the panels using these cells would be dominated largely by the requisite radiation-shielding.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiation Tolerant Nanowire Array Solar Cells

et al. 2019

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Space power systems require photovoltaics that are lightweight, efficient, reliable, and capable of operating for years or decades in space environment. Current solar panels use planar multijunction, III–V based solar cells with very high efficiency, but their specific power (power to weight ratio) is limited by the added mass of radiation shielding (e.g., coverglass) required to protect the cells from the high-energy particle radiation that occurs in space. Here, we demonstrate that III–V nanowire-array solar cells have dramatically superior radiation performance relative to planar solar cell designs and show this for multiple cell geometries and materials, including GaAs and InP. Nanowire cells exhibit damage thresholds ranging from ∼10–40 times higher than planar control solar cells when subjected to irradiation by 100–350 keV protons and 1 MeV electrons. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we show that this improvement is due in part to a reduction in the displacement density within the wires arising from their nanoscale dimensions. Radiation tolerance, combined with the efficient optical absorption and the improving performance of nanowire photovoltaics, indicates that nanowire arrays could provide a pathway to realize high-specific-power, substrate-free, III–V space solar cells with substantially reduced shielding requirements. More broadly, the exceptional reduction in radiation damage suggests that nanowire architectures may be useful in improving the radiation tolerance of other electronic and optoelectronic devices.

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Development of IMM-α and Z4J Radiation Hard III-V Solar Cells

Cited by 6 publications

References 7 publications

Ultra-lightweight and flexible inverted metamorphic four junction solar cells for space applications

Ultra-lightweight and flexible inverted metamorphic four junction solar cells for space applications

Radiation‐Tolerant Electronic Devices Using Wide Bandgap Semiconductors

Radiation Tolerant Nanowire Array Solar Cells

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