Title :
Peeled film GaAs solar cell development
Author :
Wilt, D. ; Thomas, R. ; Bailey, S. ; Brinker, D.J. ; DeAngelo, F. ; Fatemi, N. ; Landis, G.
Author_Institution :
NASA Lewis Res. Center, Cleveland, OH, USA
Abstract :
Thin-film, single-crystal gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cells could exhibit a specific power approaching 700 W/kg including coverglass. A simple process has been described whereby epitaxial GaAs layers are peeled from a reusable substrate. This process takes advantage of the extreme selectivity (>106) of the etching rate of aluminum arsenide (AlAs) over GaAs in dilute hydrofluoric acid (HF). The feasibility of using the peeled film technique to fabricate high-efficiency, low-mass GaAs solar cells is presently demonstrated. A peeled film GaAs solar cell was successfully produced. The device, although fractured and missing the aluminum gallium arsenide (Alx Ga1-xAs) window and antireflective (AR) coating, has a Voc of 874 mV and a fill factor of 68% under AM0 illumination
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; epitaxial growth; gallium arsenide; semiconductor device manufacture; semiconductor growth; solar cells; 874 mV; AlGaAs; GaAs; GaAs solar cell; InAlAs; InP; Si; coverglass; development; etching rate; fabrication; fill factor; hydrofluoric acid; peeled films; selectivity; semiconductors; specific power; substrate; Aluminum; Coatings; Costs; Etching; Gallium arsenide; Hafnium; Photovoltaic cells; Silicon; Substrates; Transistors;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1990., Conference Record of the Twenty First IEEE
Conference_Location :
Kissimmee, FL
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.1990.111601
