Metamorphic Growth and Multijunction III‐V Solar Cells

Karam, N.H.; Fetzer, C. M.; Liu, X.‐Q.; Steiner, Myles A.; Schulte, Kevin L.

doi:10.1002/9781119313021.ch5

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…[346,347] With this, high-quality thin films of only a few μm are sufficient for almost complete sunlight absorption fabricated from crystalline materials with high perfection, and lattice constants, adjusted to the lattice constant of the substrate material. Alternatively, lattice constants can be changed with metamorphic, so-called graded material growth [348,349] by a stepwise change of the atomic distances in the conventional unit cells in order to avoid severe crystalline defects detrimental with regard to nonradiative impurity recombination. [45] To facilitate photocurrent flow, a plurality of tunnel junctions of low-resistivity materials are typically inserted between each adjacent semiconductor cell.…”

Section: Iii-v Compoundsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integration of Multijunction Absorbers and Catalysts for Efficient Solar‐Driven Artificial Leaf Structures: A Physical and Materials Science Perspective

Hannappel,

Shekarabi,

Jaegermann

et al. 2024

Solar RRL

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Artificial leaves could be the breakthrough technology to overcome the limitations of storage and mobility through the synthesis of chemical fuels from sunlight, which will be an essential component of a sustainable future energy system. However, the realization of efficient solar‐driven artificial leaf structures requires integrated specialized materials such as semiconductor absorbers, catalysts, interfacial passivation, and contact layers. To date, no competitive system has emerged due to a lack of scientific understanding, knowledge‐based design rules, and scalable engineering strategies. Here, we will discuss competitive artificial leaf devices for water splitting, focusing on multi‐absorber structures to achieve solar‐to‐hydrogen conversion efficiencies exceeding 15%. A key challenge is integrating photovoltaic and electrochemical functionalities in a single device. Additionally, optimal electrocatalysts for intermittent operation at photocurrent densities of 10‐20 mA cm‐2 must be immobilized on the absorbers with specifically designed interfacial passivation and contact layers, so‐called buried junctions. This minimizes voltage and current losses and prevents corrosive side reactions. Key challenges include understanding elementary steps, identifying suitable materials, and developing synthesis and processing techniques for all integrated components. This is crucial for efficient, robust, and scalable devices. Here, we discuss and report on corresponding research efforts to produce green hydrogen with unassisted solar‐driven (photo‐)electrochemical devices.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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Section: Iii-v Compoundsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integration of Multijunction Absorbers and Catalysts for Efficient Solar‐Driven Artificial Leaf Structures: A Physical and Materials Science Perspective

Hannappel,

Shekarabi,

Jaegermann

et al. 2024

Solar RRL

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“…Main fabrication step of III-V solar cells, exemplified for the top GaInP cell and contact layers (Karam et al, 2019).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…After injecting precursors, MOVPE is used for the IMM growth of GaInP and GaAs sub cell with the BSF, window, emitter and tunneling layers as shown in Figures 1, 4. Currently, IMM prevails in growing top 2 cells, preventing threading dislocations with bandgap tuning and nitrogen addition enabling the structural bandgap sequences to be better matched (Karam et al, 2019). The growth temperature ranges between 600-700 °C.…”

Section: Frontiers In Energy Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Status and challenges of multi-junction solar cell technology

Baiju

Yarema

2022

Front. Energy Res.

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The ongoing energy transition to curb carbon dioxide emissions and meet the increasing energy demands have enhanced the need for integration of renewable energy into the existing electricity system. Solar energy has been gaining an increasing market share over the past decade. Multi-junction solar cells (MJSCs) enable the efficient conversion of sunlight to energy without being bound by the 33% limit as in the commercialized single junction silicon solar cells. III-V semiconductors have been used effectively in space applications and concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) over the past few decades. This review discusses the working and components of MJSCs at cell level as well as module level for space applications and CPV. The fabrication procedure, material acquirement of MJSCs is analyzed before introducing the current challenges preventing MJSCs from achieving widespread commercialization and the research direction in the future where these challenges can be addressed.

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Monolayer-interface-driven strain-free heteroepitaxy for single-crystal Ag thin films

Kim

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Wafer-scale growth of metallic films into single crystals is challenging owing to the large lattice mismatch and uncontrollable stacking of atoms during deposition. Here, single-crystal Ag(111) films are grown on flat Cu(111) buffer layers using atomic sputtering epitaxy, notwithstanding the large (approximately 13%) Ag/Cu lattice mismatch. Phenomenologically, the mismatch strain is localised to the first Ag monoatomic interface layer, without spreading into adjacent Ag layers. This perfect strain absorber occurs owing to regulated in-plane displacements of Ag atoms at the periodic colocalisation loci of Ag and Cu atoms. This extreme case does not require collective cooperation of dislocated atoms as opposed to the case of strain relaxation, thereby enabling defect-free growth of Ag films. The resulting film surfaces are inherently ultraflat and thus advantageous for perfect reflectors and plasmonic devices.

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Metamorphic Growth and Multijunction III‐V Solar Cells

Cited by 3 publications

References 64 publications

Integration of Multijunction Absorbers and Catalysts for Efficient Solar‐Driven Artificial Leaf Structures: A Physical and Materials Science Perspective

Integration of Multijunction Absorbers and Catalysts for Efficient Solar‐Driven Artificial Leaf Structures: A Physical and Materials Science Perspective

Status and challenges of multi-junction solar cell technology

Monolayer-interface-driven strain-free heteroepitaxy for single-crystal Ag thin films

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