Thin‐film GaAs epitaxial lift‐off solar cells for space applications

In the present work the space compatibility of thin‐film GaAs solar cells is studied. These cells are separated from their GaAs substrate by the epitaxial lift‐off (ELO) technique and mounted behind a CMG cover glass which at the same time serves as a stable carrier for the thin film cells. In the present initial stage of development these cells have an average efficiency of about 15·4% under AM0 illumination due to not yet optimized grid contacts and anti‐reflection coatings. Inspection after irradiation by 1 MeV electrons, thermal vacuum and thermal cycling experiments reveal that degradation of the cells is largely due to delamination and micro‐cracking. Based on these results, glass dehydration and adhesive degassing procedures are implemented in the ELO cell processing. As a consequence, even in this premature phase, newly produced cells show a radiation hardness comparable to or better than that of commercially available GaAs cells on Ge substrates and are virtually unaffected by severe thermal cycling. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

RF and 1/f noise investigations on MESFETs and circuitstransplanted by epitaxial lift off

In this paper, we present the results of RF and noise measurements of MESFETs transplanted by epitaxial lift off (ELO). ELO is a technology by which epitaxially grown layers are lifted off from their growth substrate and subsequently reattached to a new host substrate. In the experiments described here a 800 mm thick GaAs film containing MESFETs or complete microwave circuits is transplanted onto semi-insulating InP. Gate leakage current, RF characteristics, and noise performance of MESFETs and GaAs circuits are compared before and after ELO. Special attention was given to low-frequency (1/f) noise, 1/f noise is believed to be caused by surface as well as bulk effects. An increase in 1/f noise could have been predicted since a new surface is exposed during the transplantation process. The mechanical stress during the transplantation could cause crystal damage creating additional traps which could also result in an increase in 1/f noise     

Fabrication and analysis of multijunction solar cells with a quantum dot (In)GaAs junction

InAs quantum dots (QDs) have been incorporated to bandgap engineer the (In)GaAs junction of (In)GaAs/Ge double‐junction solar cells and InGaP/(In)GaAs/Ge triple‐junction solar cells on 4‐in. wafers. One sun AM0 current–voltage measurement shows consistent performance across the wafer. Quantum efficiency analysis shows similar aforementioned bandgap performance of baseline and QD solar cells, whereas integrated sub‐band gap current of 10 InAs QD layers shows a gain of 0.20 mA/cm². Comparing QD double‐junction solar cells and QD triple‐junction solar cells to baseline structures shows that the (In)GaAs junction has a V_oc loss of 50 mV and the InGaP 70 mV. Transmission electron microscopy imaging does not reveal defective material and shows a buried QD density of 10¹¹ cm⁻², which is consistent with the density of QDs measured on the surface of a test structure. Although slightly lower in efficiency, the QD solar cells have uniform performance across 4‐in. wafers. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of epitaxial lift-off on the DC, RF, and thermal propertiesof MESFET's on various host materials

In this paper, we present an in-depth investigation on the effects of epitaxial lift-off (ELO) on GaAs MESFET's. DC and microwave characteristics as well as thermal effects are considered. Devices were fabricated on a GaAs foundry process and transplanted by ELO. ELO is a technology by which epitaxially grown layers are lifted off from their growth substrate and are subsequently re-attached to a new host substrate. Host materials considered are InP, quartz and silicon with resistivities ranging from 11 mΩcm to 50 Ωcm     

太阳电池用Ge抛光片清洗技术的研究进展

Ge抛光片作为化合物太阳电池的衬底材料已引起人们的广泛关注。制备工艺要求衬底材料的表面具有稳定的化学特性和高的清洁度,因此,Ge抛光片的清洗技术显得尤为重要。Ge在常温下既不与浓碱发生反应,也不与单一的强酸反应,其清洗机理与Si、GaAs等材料相差较大。在实验和查阅文献的基础上,阐述了Ge抛光片的清洗机理,介绍了太阳电池用Ge抛光片表面的宏观沾污和微观沾污的清洗方法和过程、同时对Ge抛光片表面的氧化状态进行了分析。另外,还对目前国内外Ge抛光片清洗技术的研究现状及技术水平做了介绍,指出了Ge抛光片清洗技术存在的问题,并对其发展趋势进行了展望。     

Low-resistance vertical conduction across epitaxially lifted-off n-GaAs film and Pd/Ge/Pd coated Si substrate

Low-resistance ohmic conduction across an epitaxially lifted-off (ELO) thin n-GaAs film and a Si substrate was obtained by attaching the ELO film on the Si substrate coated with a Pd/Ge/Pd multilayer. Good bonding and ohmic contacts to both GaAs and Si were achieved at the same time after annealing. The interface compound formation was studied by secondary ion mass spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction analyses. The ELO technology was used to fabricate an ELO stripe geometry diode laser on Si with the back-side contact on Si substrate. Good laser performance with comparable characteristics as conventional laser diodes on GaAs substrates was obtained.     

Breakeven criteria for the GaInNAs junction in GaInP/GaAs/GaInNAs/Ge four‐junction solar cells

The four‐junction GaInP/GaAs/GaInNAs/Ge solar cell structure holds the promise of efficiencies exceeding those of the GaInP/GaAs/Ge three‐junction cell, which at present is the benchmark for high‐efficiency multijunction cell performance. The performance of GaInNAs junctions demonstrated to date has been insufficient for the realization of these projected efficiency gains, owing to poor minority‐carrier properties in the GaInNAs. However, incremental improvements in the GaInNAs junctions have brought this breakeven point within sight. In this paper, we use a semiempirical approach to estimate the efficiency of the GaInP/GaAs/GaInNAs/Ge four‐junction solar cell structure as a function of the performance parameters of the GaInNAs third junction. The results provide guidance on the extent to which the current and voltage of present‐day GaInNAs junctions will need to be improved in order for the resulting four‐junction cell to realize its potential for efficiencies higher than that of GaInP/GaAs/Ge benchmark. Published in 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

手机用GaAs SPDT开关的全离子注入技术

对移动通信用单刀双掷开关制作工艺中的 Ga As全离子注入技术进行了实验比较和讨论 ,认为 76mmGa As圆片经光片注入 Si离子后包封 40 nm Si O2 +60 nm Si N进行快速退火再进行 B离子注入隔离和器件制作的工艺方法先进、工艺简便、表面物理性能好、产品成本低、重复性和均匀性好、成品率高及器件性能优良。     

空间太阳能电池用超薄锗单晶片的清洗技术

由于锗在常温时即不与浓碱发生反应,也不与单一的强酸反应[1],因此其清洗机理与硅、砷化镓等材料相差较大[2,3].在大量实验的基础上,阐述了锗单晶抛光片的清洗机理.通过对锗抛光片表面有机物和颗粒的去除技术研究,建立了超薄锗单晶抛光片的清洗技术,利用该技术清洗的超薄锗单晶抛光片完全满足了空间高效太阳电池的使用要求.     

Effects of low temperatures and intensities on GaAs and GaAs/Gesolar cells

GaAs and GaAs/Ge solar cells grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) were characterized at very low temperature (-185°C) and solar intensity (0.25 suns) to simulate the cell behavior in a severe interplanetary environment. A comparison is also made with GaAs cells grown with the liquid-phase-epitaxy (LPE) technique. The analysis carried out from -185 to +50°C shows, in particular, different behaviors for GaAs/Ge cells with active and passive Ge substrates; the GaAs/Ge passive cell behaves as a GaAs on GaAs cell, indicating that from the thermal and optical point of view, Ge acts only as a mechanical support. The GaAs cell with an active Ga substrate is affected by a notch in the I-V curves, which is more evident at low temperatures but reduces at low intensities. The GaAs/GaAs MOCVD cell shows the best performance at low temperature and intensity with a conversion efficiency of 27.2%     

半导体单晶抛光片清洗工艺分析

通过对Si,CaAs,Ge等半导体材料单晶抛光片清洗工艺技术的研究,分析得出了半导体材料单晶抛光片的清洗关键技术条件.首先用氧化性溶液将晶片表面氧化,然后用一定的方法将晶片表面的氧化物去除,从而实现对晶片进行清洗的目的.采用这种先氧化再剥离的方法,可有效去除附着在晶片表面的杂质及各种沾污物.对于不同的材料,氧化过程以及剥离过程可以在不同的溶液中相互独立地进行;也可以组合在一起,使用一种混合液同时实现氧化及剥离.采用氧化、剥离的清洗原理,可提高半导体材料抛光片的清洗工艺技术水平,同时也对新材料抛光片的清洗工艺起到一定的指导作用.     

清洗工艺对锗外延片表面点状缺陷的影响

锗外延片表面的雾、水印及点状缺陷等会影响太阳电池的性能和成品率,其中点状缺陷出现的比例最高。研究了锗抛光片清洗工艺对外延片表面点状缺陷的影响,获得了无点状缺陷、低粗糙度及高表面质量的锗单晶片。采用厚度为175μm p型<100>锗单面抛光片进行清洗试验,研究了SC-1溶液的不同清洗时间、清洗温度和去离子水冲洗温度对锗抛光片外延后点状缺陷的影响,分析了表面SiO_2残留和锗片表面粗糙度对外延片表面点状缺陷的影响。结果表明点状缺陷主要是由于锗单晶抛光片表面沾污没有彻底清洗干净以及清洗过程中产生新的缺陷造成的。采用氢氟酸溶液浸泡、SC-1溶液低温短时间清洗结合低温去离子水冲洗后的锗抛光片进行外延,用其制备的太阳电池光电转换效率由原来的25%提高到31%。     

Activity and current status of R&D on space solar cells in Japan

Japan's Research and Development (R&D) activities on high‐performance III–V compound space solar cells are presented. Studies of new CuInGaSe₂ thin‐film terrestrial solar cells for space applications are also discussed. Performance and radiation characteristics of a newly developed InGaP/GaAs/Ge triple‐junction space solar cell, including radiation response, results of a flight demonstration test of InGaP/GaAs dual‐junction solar cells and CuInGaSe₂ thin‐film solar cells, and radiation response of three component sub‐cells are explained. This study confirms superior radiation tolerance of InGaP/GaAs dual‐junction cells and CuInGaSe₂ thin‐film cells by space flight experiments. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optical mixing in epitaxial lift-off pseudomorphic HEMTs

In this letter, we present optical mixing in epitaxial lift-off (ELO) pseudomorphic HEMTs (PHEMTs) at difference frequencies in the microwave regime up to 22 GHz. The 3 μm gate length AlGaAs-InGaAs PHEMT's mere lifted off their host GaAs substrates and subsequently attached to quartz slides. It was observed that the ELO devices consistently resulted in stronger signals (~7 dB) than the non-ELO devices under frontside and backside illumination. This is attributed to improved optical coupling efficiency, a decrease in substrate leakage, and an illumination-induced back gating effect for the ELO films     

High‐efficiency GaInP/GaAs/GaInNAs solar cells grown by combined MBE‐MOCVD technique

Triple‐junction GaInP/GaAs/GaInNAs solar cells with conversion efficiency of ~29% at AM0 are demonstrated using a combination of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and metal‐organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) processes. The bottom junction made of GaInNAs was first grown on a GaAs substrate by MBE and then transferred to an MOCVD system for subsequent overgrowth of the two top junctions. The process produced repeatable cell characteristics and uniform efficiency pattern over 4‐inch wafers. Combining the advantages offered by MBE and MOCVD opens a new perspective for fabrication of high‐efficiency tandem solar cells with three or more junctions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of perimeter recombination in the subcells of GaInP/GaAs/Ge triple‐junction solar cells

This paper studies the recombination at the perimeter in the subcells that constitute a GaInP/GaAs/Ge lattice‐matched triple‐junction solar cell. For that, diodes of different sizes and consequently different perimeter/area ratios have been manufactured in single‐junction solar cells resembling the subcells in a triple‐junction solar cell. It has been found that neither in GaInP nor in Ge solar cells the recombination at the perimeter is significant in devices as small as 500 μm × 500μm(2.5 ⋅ 10 ^{− 3} cm²) in GaInP and 250μm × 250μm (6.25 ⋅ 10 ^{− 4}cm²) in Ge. However, in GaAs, the recombination at the perimeter is not negligible at low voltages even in devices as large as 1cm², and it is the main limiting recombination factor in the open circuit voltage even at high concentrations in solar cells of 250 μm × 250μm (6.25 ⋅ 10 ^{− 4} cm²) or smaller. Therefore, the recombination at the perimeter in GaAs should be taken into account when optimizing triple‐junction solar cells. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anti-phase domain-free growth of GaAs on offcut (001) Ge wafers by molecular beam epitaxy with suppressed Ge outdiffusion

The nucleation and growth of GaAs films on offcut (001) Ge wafers by solid source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is investigated, with the objective of establishing nucleation conditions which reproducibly yield GaAs films which are free of antiphase domains (APDs) and which have suppressed Ge outdiffusion into the GaAs layer. The nucleation process is monitored by in-situ reflection high energy electron diffraction and Auger electron spectroscopy. Several nucleation variables are studied, including the state of the initial Ge surface (single-domain 2×1 or mixed-domain 2×1:1×2), the initial prelayer (As, Ga, or mixed), and the initial GaAs growth temperature (350 or 500°C). Conditions are identified which simultaneously produce APD-free GaAs layers several microns in thickness on Ge wafers with undetectable Ge outdiffusion and with surface roughness equivalent to that of GaAs/GaAs homoepitaxy. APD-free material is obtained using either As or Ga nucleation layers, with the GaAs domain dependent upon the initial exposure chemical species. Key growth steps for APD-free GaAs/Ge growth by solid source MBE include an epitaxial Ge buffer deposited in the MBE chamber to bury carbon contamination from the underlying Ge wafer, an anneal of the Ge buffer at 640°C to generate a predominantly double atomic-height stepped surface, and nucleation of GaAs growth by a ten monolayer migration enhanced epitaxy step initiated with either pure As or Ga. We identify this last step as being responsible for blocking Ge outdiffusion to below 10¹⁵ cm⁻³ within 0.5 microns of the GaAs/Ge interface.     

GaInP/GaAs/Ge三结太阳电池辐照损伤效应及加固技术研究进展

文章首先重点介绍了国内外开展GaInP/GaAs/Ge三结太阳电池的电子、质子及其他辐射粒子或射线辐照实验的研究进展,然后从辐照损伤效应的仿真模拟研究、抗辐射加固技术、损伤预估方法等方面综述了GaInP/GaAs/Ge三结太阳电池辐照损伤效应及加固技术的研究进展,最后梳理了当前GaInP/GaAs/Ge三结太阳电池辐照损伤效应研究中亟待解决的关键技术问题,为深入开展GaInP/GaAs/Ge三结太阳电池辐照损伤效应实验方法标准制定、损伤机理分析、在轨寿命预估及抗辐射加固技术研究提供了理论指导和实验技术支持。     

Multi-wafer growth of highly uniform InGaP/GaAs by low pressure MOVPE

This paper reports on the large area growth of InGaP/GaAs heterostructures for short wavelength applications (λ ∼ 650 nm) by low pressure MOVPE in a vertical, high speed, rotating disk reactor. Highly uniform films were obtained both on a single 50 mm diam wafer at the center of a 5 inch diam wafer platter and on three, 50 mm diameter GaAs wafers symmetrically placed on a 5 inch diam platter. Characterization was performed by x-ray diffraction, SEM, and room temperature photoluminescence (PL) mapping. For the single wafer growth, PL mapping results show that the total range on wavelength was ±2 nm with a 2 mm edge exclusion. The standard deviation of the peak wavelength,σ _w , is 0.7 nm. Thickness uniformity, measured by SEM, is less than 2%. Similar results were obtained for the multi-wafer runs. Each individual wafer has aσ _w of 1.1 nm. The wafers have nearly identical PL maps with the variation of the average wavelength from the three wafers within ±0.1 nm.     

Interface contribution to GaAs/Ge heterojunction solar cellefficiency

A solar cell formed by growing a p-on-n AlGaAs/GaAs heteroface homojunction on a thin Ge substrate is studied by investigating the contribution of the GaAs/Ge heterostructure to the solar-cell efficiency. The existence of interface states is required in the absence of a Ge p-n junction to produce the photovoltaic effect with an open-circuit voltage enhancement as experimentally observed. Dark current-voltage characteristics of the GaAs/Ge heterojunction are calculated when the carrier transport is by thermionic emission and tunneling mechanisms. The evaluations correctly explain the observed changes of efficiency, the decrease of fill factor, the increase of open-circuit voltage, and the insignificant change of short-circuit current as compared to a GaAs/GaAs solar cell. It the short-circuit current from the heterojunction is on the order of 25 mA/cm², which is less than that of the p-n junction cell, the reduction of the solar cell efficiency is about 0.5-1.5% over a wide range of GaAs/Ge doping concentrations. Very few interface states tend to yield a diode-like dark I-V curve