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NASA NTRS1989

InP shallow-homojunction solar cells

Indium phosphide solar cells with very thin n-type emitters have been made by both ion implantation and metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Air mass zero efficiencies as high as 18.8 percent (NASA measurement) have been achieved. Although calculations show that, as is the case with GaAs, a heterostructure is expected to be required for the highest efficiencies attainable, the material properties of InP give the shallow-homojunction structure a greater potential than in the case of GaAs. The best cells, which were those made by ion implantation, show open-circuit voltage (V sub oc) of 873 mV, short-circuit current of 357 A/sq m (35.7 mA/sq cm), and fill factor of 0.829. Improvements are anticipated in all three of these parameters. Internal quantum efficiency peaks at over 90 percent in the red end of the spectrum, but drops to 54 percent in the blue end. Other cells have achieved 74 percent in the blue end. Detailed modeling of the data indicates that a high front surface recombination velocity is responsible for the low blue response, that the carrier lifetime is high enough to allow good carrier collection from both the base and the emitter, and that the voltage is base-limited.

Keavney, Christopher↗

NASA NTRS1989

An empirical study of the performance of APMOVPE AM0 InP homojunction solar cells as a function of emitter thickness and doping, and base doping

Their excellent radiation resistance and conversion efficiencies greater than 20 percent, measured under global conditions, make InP shallow-homojunction solar cells very attractive for space or terrestrial application. In addition, modeling studies show that, for optimized design, efficiencies of these devices should exceed 20 percent even under AM0 conditions. However, a systematic experimental investigation of the influence of the various cell design parameters on cell performance has not as yet been made. For the n+/p/p+ structures investigated in the previous modeling study, the design parameters include the impurity concentrations and thicknesses of the emitter and base layers. In the work reported here, researchers discuss an experimental investigation of the effects on cell performance of varying the impurity concentrations of the emitter and base and thickness of the emitter.

Wanlass, M. W.↗

NASA NTRS1989

N/P InP homojunction solar cells with an In0.53Ga0.47As contacting layer grown by liquid phase epitaxy

N/P InP homojunction solar cells with an In sub 0.53 Ga sub 0.47 As contacting layer were fabricated by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE). Electron-Beam-Induced-Current (EBIC) measurements were performed on several selected samples. It was found that the background doping level in the base region sometimes results in a deep junction, which greatly affects the cell performance.

Shen, C. C.↗

NASA NTRS1988

A mass spectrometric study of the simultaneous reaction mechanism of TMIn and PH3 to grow InP

The reaction mechanisms for the growth of InP from various mixtures of trimethyl indium (TMIn) and PH3 by OMVPE were investigated using mass spectrometry and a D2 ambient for isotopic labeling of the reaction products. It was found that, whereas TMIn alone pyrolyzes homogeneously, forming CH3D, and PH3 alone pyrolyzes heterogeneously, producing H2, the pyrolysis reactions of TMIn and PH3 together are completely different. The pyrolysis temperatures of both TMIn and PH3 are reduced (by 50 C for TMIn and 225 C for PH3), and the sole product is CH4 at high values of the PH3/TMIn ratio. The pyrolysis reaction is shown to be coupled (as evidenced by the equal depletion of TMIn and PH3 from the vapor) and, at temperatures below 400 C, heterogeneous.

Buchan, N. I.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Phase and amplitude characteristics of InP:Fe modified interdigitated gap photoconductive microwave switches

The transmission amplitude and phase characteristics of InP:Fe modified interdigitated gap photoconductive microwave switches are reported. Measurements in the 0.1-1 GHz frequency range show that the phase is shifted about 90 deg and that the corresponding change in amplitude ranges from 43 dB at 0.1 GHz to 23 dB at 1 GHz when the illumination-induced conductance is switched from a low OFF-state value (aboit 4 x 10 to the -8 S) to a high ON-state value (5 mS). The observed characteristics can be described by a phase-shifting region and an amplitude modulation region. In the phase-shifting region the phase strongly depends on the conductance, and the amplitude is almost constant. In the amplitude modulation region both the amplitude and the phase depend on the conductance but the effect on the amplitude is much more pronounced. A lumped-element model describing the device performance is presented. It is concluded that these optoelectronic microwave switching devices are suitable for high-speed amplitude modulation but are not promising as high-speed phase shifters.

Andersson, Ingmar L.↗

NASA NTRS1990

New directions in InP solar cell research

Recent research efforts representing new directions in InP solar cell research are reviewed. These include heteroepitaxial growth on silicon and gallium arsenide substrates, V-grooved cells, large area high efficiency cells, and surface passivation. Improvements in heteroepitaxial cell efficiency are described together with processing of 19.1 percent, 4 sq cm cells. Recommendations are made for improvements in processing leading to increased efficiencies.

Weinberg, I.↗

NASA NTRS1988

An empirical investigation of the InP shallow-homojunction solar cell

An experimental study of the performance of epitaxially grown InP shallow-homojunction solar cells as a function of the thickness and carrier concentration in the base and emitter layers is presented. Identification of improvements to cell design leading to higher performance is emphasized. As a result, using a near-optimum set of design parameters, cells with conversion efficiencies of 20.3 percent (global) and 17.6 percent (AM0) have been achieved. For such cells, it is shown that the internal response of the base layer is essentially perfect, whereas the emitter-layer properties can be improved substantially and warrant further investigation. Discrepancies between the results of the present study and those of earlier modeling efforts are discussed.

Wanlass, M. W.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Modeling and simulation of InP homojunction solar cells

Modeling and simulation of single-crystal InP homojunction solar cells has been performed using the PC-1D code. Cell design and performance have been optimized using the best available estimates of the various materials parameters. A comparison has been made of the predictions of the PC-1D model to those of other models. The optimum performance is predicted to give an efficiency approaching 21 percent at AM0. It is shown that in order to describe the performance of actual cells it is necessary to use larger values of the intrinsic carrier concentration and the surface recombination velocity (SRV) than have been reported in the literature. However, even with a near-maximum value of SRV (e.g., 10 to the 7th cm/s) it is necessary to reduce the minority carrier diffusion length in the emitter to only 0.01 micron in order to account for the relatively low quantum efficiency in the blue part of the spectrum. This indicates that improvement in the emitter bulk properties could be much more important than the SRV. Other loss mechanisms are also discussed; in particular, it is shown that recombination in the base, for good quality material, is relatively insignificant.

Yahia, A. H.↗

NASA NTRS1988

InP homojunction solar cell performance on the LIPS III flight experiment

Performance data for the NASA Lewis Research Center indium phosphide n+p homojunction solar cell module on the LIPS 3 flight experiment is presented. The objective of the experiment is to measure the performance of InP cells in the natural radiation environment of the 1100 km altitude, 60+ deg inclination orbit. Analysis of flight data indicates that the performance of the four cells throughout the first year is near expected values. No degradation in short-circuit current was seen, as was expected from radiation tolerance studies of similar cells. Details of the cell structure and flight module design are discussed. The results of the temperature dependency and radiation tolerance studies necessary for normalization and analysis of the data are included.

Brinker, David J.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Performance, size, mass, and cost estimates for projected 1kW EOL Si, InP, and GaAs arrays

One method of evaluating the potential of emerging solar cell and array technologies is to compare their projected capabilities in space flight applications to those of established Si solar cells and arrays. Such an application-oriented comparison provides an integrated view of the elemental comparisons of efficiency, radiation resistance, temperature sensitivity, size, mass, and cost in combination. In addition, the assumptions necessary to make the comparisons provide insights helpful toward determining necessary areas of development or evaluation. Finally, as developments and evaluations progress, the results can be used in more precisely defining the overall potential of the new technologies in comparison to existing technologies. The projected capabilities of Si, InP, and GaAs cells and arrays are compared.

Slifer, Luther W., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Photoreflectance and DLTS evaluation of plasma-induced damage in GaAs and InP prior to solar cell fabrication

The effect is considered of plasma etching on both GaAs and InP followed by damage removal using rapid thermal annealing (RTA). Effects of these processes were studied by photoreflectance spectroscopy (PR) and deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). These techniques are useful in evaluation of wafers prior to and effects of plasma processing during solar cell fabrication.

He, L.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Two-terminal monolithic InP-based tandem solar cells with tunneling intercell ohmic connections

A monolithic two-terminal InP/InGaAsP tandem solar cell was successfully fabricated. This tandem solar cell consists of a p/n InP homojunction top subcell and a 0.95 eV p/n InGaAsP homojunction bottom subcell. A patterned 0.95 eV n(+)/p(+) InGaAsP tunnel diode was employed as an intercell ohmic connection. The solar cell structure was prepared by two-step liquid phase epitaxial growth. Under one sun, AM1.5 global illumination, the best tandem cell delivered a conversion efficiency of 14.8 pct.

Shen, C. C.↗

NASA NTRS1990

New directions in InP solar cell research

Recent research efforts representing new directions in InP solar cell research are reviewed. These include heteroepitaxial growth on silicon and gallium arsenide substrates, V-grooved cells, large-area high efficiency cells, and surface passivation. Improvements in heteroepitaxial cell efficiency are described together with processing of 19.1 percent, 4 sq cm cells. Recommendations are made for improvements in processing leading to increased efficiencies.

Weinberg, I.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Photovoltaic characteristics of n(+)pp(+) InP solar cells grown by OMVPE

The photovoltaic characteristics of n(+)/p/p(+) homojunction InP solar cells fabricated by organometallic vapor-phase epitaxy (OMVPE) are described. The cells are characterized by I-V, C-V and quantum efficiency measurements, and simulations are used to obtain various device and material parameters. The I-V characteristics show a high recombination rate in the depletion region; this is shown to be independent of the impurity used. It is shown that cadmium is easier to use as an acceptor for the p base and p(+) buffer and is therefore beneficial. The high quantum efficiency of 98 percent at long wavelengths measured in these cells indicates a very good collection efficiency in the base. The short-wavelength quantum efficiency is poor, indicating a high surface recombination.

Tyagi, S.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Recent results from the InP homojunction cell module on the LIPS III spacecraft

The flight performance of the NASA Lewis Research Center's indium phosphide homojunction cell module on the LIPs III spacecraft is presented. Four n+-p diffused junction cells, an early product of an InP development program, were flown. The voltage range of the data prohibits determination of the open-circuit voltage or the maximum power point. However, analysis of the 32 months of short-circuit current data reveals a slight increase, not the 4 percent decrease expected from radiation tolerance studies. This increase may be due to continual cleaning of possible prelaunch dust contamination or changes in data acquisition system calibration. For all cells, the average short-circuit current remains below prelaunch values.

Brinker, David J.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Defect behavior, carrier removal and predicted in-space injection annealing of InP solar cells

Defect behavior, observed by deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), is used to predict carrier removal and the effects of simultaneous electron irradiation and injection annealing of the performance of InP solar cells. For carrier removal, the number of holes trapped per defect is obtained from measurements of both carrier concentrations and defect concentrations during an isochronal anneal. In addition, from kinetic considerations, the behavior of the dominant defect during injection annealing is used to estimate the degradation expected from exposure to the ambient electron environment in geostationary orbit.

Weinberg, I.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Texturing of InP surfaces for device applications

A unique process for texturing InP (100) wafers by anisotropic etching was developed. The process produces irregular V-grooves on the surface, which reduce the surface reflectivity. The process does not require photolithography or masking. The etching characteristics depend on doping, with etching tending to proceed more rapidly on the more heavily doped samples. Reduced reflectivity surfaces formed using this process can be applied to solar cells, photodetectors, and other optoelectronic devices.

Bailey, Sheila G.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Modeling of InP metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

The growth of InP by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) in a horizontal reactor is being modeled with a commercially available computational fluid dynamics modeling code. The mathematical treatment of the MOCVD process has four primary areas of concern: 1) transport phenomena, 2) chemistry, 3) boundary conditions, and 4) numerical solution methods. The transport processes involved in CVD are described by conservation of total mass, momentum, energy, and atomic species. Momentum conservation is described by a generalized form of the Navier-Stokes equation for a Newtonian fluid and laminar flow. The effect of Soret diffusion on the transport of particular chemical species and on the predicted deposition rate is examined. Both gas-phase and surface chemical reactions are employed in the model. Boundary conditions are specified at the inlet and walls of the reactor for temperature, fluid flow and chemical species. The coupled set of equations described above is solved by a finite difference method over a nonuniform rectilinear grid in both two and three dimensions. The results of the 2-D computational model is presented for gravity levels of zero- and one-g. The predicted growth rates at one-g are compared to measured growth rates on fused silica substrates.

Black, Linda R.↗