Improved GaInP/GaAs/GaInAs inverted metamorphic triple-junction solar cells by reduction of Zn diffusion in the top subcell

TL;DR

This paper presents strategies to reduce Zn diffusion in inverted metamorphic triple-junction solar cells, significantly improving their efficiency and electronic quality without redesigning the tunnel junction.

Contribution

It introduces novel epitaxial growth techniques to control Zn diffusion, enhancing device performance and efficiency in multijunction solar cells.

Findings

Achieved collection efficiency >93% in GaInP subcell

Demonstrated >40% peak efficiency at 500 suns

Reduced Zn diffusion improves overall device quality

Abstract

The growth of heavily doped tunnel junctions in inverted metamorphic multijunction solar cells induces a strong diffusion of Zn via a point-defects-assisted mechanism. The redistribution of Zn can compensate the n-type doping in the emitter of the GaInP top junction, degrading severely the conductivity of the whole solar cell and its conversion efficiency. This work evaluates different epitaxial growth strategies to achieve control on the Zn profile of an inverted metamorphic triple-junction structure, including: the reduction of the doping concentration in the tunnel junction to minimize the injection of point defects that trigger the diffusion mechanism; the use of different barrier layers to keep the injected point defects away from active layers and, finally, the minimization of Zn concentration in the AlGaInP back-surface-field layer of the GaInP subcell. This last approach enables a high-conductivity multijunction solar cell device without redesigning the tunnel junction as well as a high electronic quality in the GaInP subcell, which shows a collection efficiency higher than 93% and an open-circuit-voltage offset of 410 mV at 1 sun irradiance. The characterization of final triple-junction devices, including quantum efficiency, electroluminescence, and light current-density-voltage curves at different irradiances, demonstrates a successful integration of all the subcell and tunnel junction components. This way, final solar cells with peak efficiencies exceeding 40% at 500 suns are demonstrated, despite using doping levels in the AlGaInP:Zn back-surface-field of the GaInP subcell and using non-optimized antireflective coatings.