GaInP/GaAs tandem solar cells with highly Te- and Mg-doped GaAs tunnel junctions grown by MBE

doi:10.1088/1674-1056/24/10/108802

Abstract We report a GaInP/GaAs tandem solar cell with a novel GaAs tunnel junction (TJ) with using tellurium (Te) and magnesium (Mg) as n- and p-type dopants via dual-filament low temperature effusion cells grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) at low temperature. The test Te/Mg-doped GaAs TJ shows a peak current density of 21 A/cm². The tandem solar cell by the Te/Mg TJ shows a short-circuit current density of 12 mA/cm², but a low open-circuit voltage range of 1.4 V～1.71 V under AM1.5 illumination. The secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) analysis reveals that the Te doping is unexpectedly high and its doping profile extends to the Mg doping region, thus possibly resulting in a less abrupt junction with no tunneling carriers effectively. Furthermore, the tunneling interface shifts from the intended GaAs n⁺⁺ /p⁺⁺ junction to the AlGaInP/GaAs junction with a higher bandgap AlGaInP tunneling layers, thereby reducing the tunneling peak. The Te concentration of ～ 2.5 × 10²⁰ in GaAs could cause a lattice strain of 10^-3 in magnitude and thus a surface roughening, which also negatively influences the subsequent growth of the top subcell and the GaAs contacting layers. The doping features of Te and Mg are discussed to understand the photovoltaic response of the studied tandem cell.

Keywords: Te doping Mg doping GaAs tunnel junction GaInP/GaAs tandem solar cell molecular beam epitaxy

Received: 18 March 2015
Revised: 28 April 2015
Accepted manuscript online:

PACS:	88.40.H-	(Solar cells (photovoltaics))
	88.40.jm	(Thin film III-V and II-VI based solar cells)
	81.15.Hi	(Molecular, atomic, ion, and chemical beam epitaxy)
	03.65.Xp	(Tunneling, traversal time, quantum Zeno dynamics)

Fund: Project supported by the SINANO-SONY Joint Program (Grant No. Y1AAQ11001), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61274134), the USCB Start-up Program (Grant No. 06105033), and the International Cooperation Projects of Suzhou City, China (Grant No. SH201215).

Corresponding Authors: Zheng Xin-He
E-mail: xinhezheng@ustb.edu.cn;xhzheng2009@sinano.ac.cn

Cite this article:

Zheng Xin-He (郑新和), Liu San-Jie (刘三姐), Xia Yu (夏宇), Gan Xing-Yuan (甘兴源), Wang Hai-Xiao (王海啸), Wang Nai-Ming (王乃明), Yang Hui (杨辉) GaInP/GaAs tandem solar cells with highly Te- and Mg-doped GaAs tunnel junctions grown by MBE 2015 Chin. Phys. B 24 108802

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GaInP/GaAs tandem solar cells with highly Te- and Mg-doped GaAs tunnel junctions grown by MBE

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