DocumentCode :
878493
Title :
a-Si1-xCx:H alloys for multijunction solar cells
Author :
Catalano, Anthony ; Newton, James ; Rothwarf, Allen
Author_Institution :
Solarex Corp., Newtown, PA, USA
Volume :
37
Issue :
2
fYear :
1990
fDate :
2/1/1990 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage :
391
Lastpage :
396
Abstract :
a-SiC:H alloys are promising candidates for the top junction alloy in triple-junction solar cells. In order to understand the limitations on electronic transport in the alloys, the photoconductivity and optical absorption were measured using photothermal deflection spectroscopy (PDS). Thin-film transistors have also been fabricated and studied. Taken together, the material and device measurements provide strong evidence that electron transport in the material is restricted by declining mobility in the alloys above a bandgap of approximately 1.9 eV. p-i-n devices based on the alloys have exhibited open-circuit voltages as high as 1.05 V, but the fill factors of the devices decline at these high voltages. The open-circuit voltage of the devices scales with optical bandgap, and measurements of Voc versus temperature indicate that generation-recombination controls the open-circuit voltage. Triple-junction devices containing 1.85-eV a-SiC:H and 1.45-eV SiGe:H have shown conversion efficiencies of 10.2%
Keywords :
amorphous semiconductors; hydrogen; semiconductor materials; silicon compounds; solar cells; 1.45 eV; 1.85 eV; PDS; SiGe:H; amorphous Si1-xCx:H; conversion efficiencies; electron transport; fill factors; generation-recombination; multijunction solar cells; open-circuit voltages; optical absorption; optical bandgap; photoconductivity; photothermal deflection spectroscopy; top junction alloy; triple-junction solar cells; Absorption; Electron optics; Optical devices; Optical materials; Photoconducting materials; Photoconductivity; Photonic band gap; Photovoltaic cells; Spectroscopy; Voltage;
fLanguage :
English
Journal_Title :
Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on
Publisher :
ieee
ISSN :
0018-9383
Type :
jour
DOI :
10.1109/16.46372
Filename :
46372
Link To Document :
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