Title :
Single crystalline-like germanium films on flexible, lattice mismatched substrates for photovoltaic applications
Author :
Selvamanickam, V. ; Sambandam, S. ; Sundaram, A. ; Lee, S. ; Xiong, X.
Author_Institution :
Univ. of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
Abstract :
Single crystalline-like Ge films have been successfully grown on flexible polycrystalline substrates using templates created by ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD). No epitaxial growth was found to be possible when Ge is directly grown on MgO. However an intermediate layer of CeO2 was found to enable epitaxial growth of Ge. Also, textured Si has been demonstrated on CeO2-buffered IBAD templates on metal substrates. These single crystalline-like Ge films can be used as templates for growth of III-V photovoltaics on inexpensive, flexible substrates.
Keywords :
buffer layers; cerium compounds; elemental semiconductors; epitaxial growth; germanium; ion beam assisted deposition; magnesium compounds; photovoltaic cells; semiconductor growth; semiconductor thin films; CeO2; Ge; III-V photovoltaics; MgO; buffered IBAD templates; epitaxial growth; film growth; flexible-lattice mismatched polycrystalline substrates; intermediate layer; ion beam assisted deposition; metal substrates; photovoltaic applications; single crystalline-like germanium films; Crystallization; Data analysis; Degradation; Germanium; Lattices; Photovoltaic systems; Silicon; Solar power generation; System testing; Transistors;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2009 34th IEEE
Conference_Location :
Philadelphia, PA
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-2949-3
Electronic_ISBN :
0160-8371
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2009.5411177
