Engineering topics

Faur, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Faur, M..

5 records

NASA NTRS1995

Design of a three-layer antireflection coating for high efficiency indium phosphide solar cells using a chemical oxide as first layer

It is well known that the behavior of III-V compound based solar cells is largely controlled by their surface, since the majority of light generated carriers (63% for GaAs and 79% for InP) are created within 0.2 mu m of the surface of the illuminated cell. Consequently, the always observed high surface recombination velocity (SRV) on these cells is a serious limiting factor for their high efficiency performance, especially for those with p-n junction made by either thermal diffusion or ion implantation. A good surface passivation layer, ideally a grown oxide as opposed to a deposited one, will cause a significant reduction in the SRV without adding interface problems, thus improving the performance of III-V compound based solar cells. Another significant benefit to the overall performance of the solar cells can be achieved by a substantial reduction of their large surface optical reflection by the use of a well designed antireflection (AR) coating. In this paper, we demonstrate the effectiveness of using a chemically grown thermally and chemically stable oxide, not only for surface passivation but also as an integral part of a 3-layer AR coating for thermally diffused p+n InP solar cells. A phosphorus-rich interfacial oxide, In(PO3)3, is grown at the surface of the p+ emitter using an etchant based on HNO3, o-H3PO4 and H2O2. This oxide has the unique properties of passivating the surface as well as serving as an efficient antireflective layer yielding a measured record high AMO open-circuit voltage of 890.3 mV on a thermally diffused InP(Cd,S) solar cell. Unlike conventional single layer AR coatings such as ZnS, Sb2O3, SiO or double layer AR coatings such as ZnS/MgF2 deposited by e-beam or resistive evaporation, this oxide preserves the stoichiometry of the InP surface. We show that it is possible to design a three-layer AR coating for a thermally diffused InP solar cell using the In(PO3)3 grown oxide as the first layer and Al2O3 and MgF2 as the second and third layers respectively, so as to yield an overall theoretical reflectance of less than 2%. Since chemical oxides are readily grown on III-V semiconductors materials, the technique of using the grown oxide layer to both passivate the surface as well as serve as the first of a multilayer AR coating should work well for all III-V compound-based solar cells.

Moulot, Jacques↗

NASA NTRS1991

A comparative study of p(+)n and n(+)p InP solar cells made by a closed ampoule diffusion

The purpose was to demonstrate the possibility of fabricating thermally diffused p(+)n InP solar cells having high open-circuit voltage without sacrificing the short circuit current. The p(+)n junctions were formed by closed-ampoule diffusion of Cd through a 3 to 5 nm thick anodic or chemical phosphorus-rich oxide cap layer grown on n-InP:S Czochralski LEC grown substrates. For solar cells made by thermal diffusion the p(+)n configuration is expected to have a higher efficiency than the n(+)p configuration. It is predicted that the AM0, BOL efficiencies approaching 19 percent should be readily achieved providing that good ohmic front contacts could be realized on the p(+) emitters of thickness lower than 1 micron.

Faur, M.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Effect of dislocations on properties of heteroepitaxial InP solar cells

The apparently unrelated phenomena of temperature dependency, carrier removal and photoluminescence are shown to be affected by the high dislocation densities present in heteroepitaxial InP solar cells. Using homoepitaxial InP cells as a baseline, it is found that the relatively high dislocation densities present in heteroepitaxial InP/GaAs cells lead to increased volumes of dVoc/dt and carrier removal rate and substantial decreases in photoluminescence spectral intensities. With respect to dVoc/dt, the observed effect is attributed to the tendency of dislocations to reduce Voc. Although the basic cause for the observed increase in carrier removal rate is unclear, it is speculated that the decreased photoluminescence intensity is attributable to defect levels introduced by dislocations in the heteroepitaxial cells.

Weinberg, I.↗

NASA NTRS1991

High voltage thermally diffused p(+)n solar cells

The possibility of fabricating thermally diffused p(+)n InP solar-cells with high open-circuit voltage without sacrificing the short circuit current is discussed. The p(+)n InP junctions were formed by Cd and Zn diffusion through a 3-5-nm-thick anodic or chemical phosphorus-rich oxide cap layer grown on n:InP:S (with ND-NA = 3.5 x 10 exp 16 and 4.5 x 10 exp 17/cu cm) Czochralski LEC-grown substrates. After thinning the emitter from its initial thickness of 1 to 2.5 micron down to 0.06-0.15 micron, the maximum efficiency was found when the emitter was 0.2 to 0.3 micron thick. Typical AM0, 25 C values of 854-860 mV were achieved for Voc, Jsc values were from 25.9 to 29.1 mA/sq cm using only the P-rich passivating layer left after the thinning process as an antireflection coating.

Faur, M.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Radiation and temperature effects in heteroepitaxial and homoepitaxial InP cells

Heteroepitaxial (InP/GaAs) and homo-epitaxial (InP/InP) cells were irradiated by 1-MeV electrons and their performance, temperature dependencies and carrier removal rates determined. The radiation resistances of the InP/GaAs cells were significantly higher than that of the InP/InP cells. This was attributed to the high dislocation density present in the heteroepitaxial cells. In addition, the effects of dislocations in these latter cells were dominant in determining the temperature dependence of open-circuit voltage.

Weinberg, I.↗