Triple-Junction GaInP/GaAs/Ge Solar Cells With an AZO Transparent Electrode and ZnO Nanowires

Author

Shoou-Jinn Chang ; Jei-Li Hou ; Ting-Jen Hsueh ; Kin-Tak Lam ; Shuguang Li ; Chun-Hsing Liu ; Sheng-Po Chang

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Nat. Cheng Kung Univ., Tainan, Taiwan

Volume

3

Issue

3

fYear

2013

fDate

Jul-13

Firstpage

991

Lastpage

996

Abstract

In this paper, the fabrication of GaInP/GaAs/Ge triple-junction (TJ) solar cells with an Al-doped ZnO (AZO) transparent electrode and a ZnO nanowire (NW) antireflection (AR) layer is reported. It was found that ZnO NWs/AZO could provide a smaller reflectance, as compared with AZO and MgF₂/Ta₂O₅. By inserting a 4-nm-thick AuGeNi between AZO and n⁺ -AlInP, it was found that the rectifying contact could be transformed into an ohmic contact with a specific contact resistance of 1.02 × 10^-5 Ω·cm². Furthermore, it was found that the ZnO NWs/ZnO used in this study could enhance the conversion efficiency of TJ solar cells from 21.91% to 28.16%, which corresponds to a 25.4% relative enhancement in the conversion efficiency.

Keywords

II-VI semiconductors; III-V semiconductors; aluminium; electrochemical electrodes; elemental semiconductors; gallium arsenide; gallium compounds; germanium; indium compounds; nanowires; ohmic contacts; rectification; semiconductor junctions; solar cells; transparency; zinc compounds; GaInP-GaAs-Ge; ZnO:Al; antireflection layer; nanowires; ohmic contact; rectifying contact; size 4 nm; specific contact resistance; transparent electrode; triple-junction solar cells; Al-doped ZnO (AZO); ZnO nanowires; triple-junction solar cell;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photovoltaics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

2156-3381

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JPHOTOV.2013.2258192

Filename

6510447