*Donagh O’Mahony(1), Ian Mathews(1, 2, 3), Agnieszka Gocalinska(1), Emanuele Pelucchi(1), Kevin Thomas(1), Alan P. Morrison(1, 2) and Brian Corbett(1)

European Space Power Conference

ESPC

Amsterdam

Poster Presentation

2014

()

0

14-APR-14

17-APR-14

Multi-junction cells based on a lattice constant of 5.816 Å using InAlAs - InGaAsP - InGaAs alloys can theoretically outperform those based on the GaAs lattice parameter by 3%. This lattice constant is close to that of InP (5.86 Å) but ultimately requires growth on a lower cost substrate such as Ge or Si for cost effectiveness. This paper presents an overview of our group’s progress on the development of the essential sub-elements of this novel configuration, namely: (i) single-junction In0.52Al0.48As and In0.53Ga0.47As solar cells lattice matched to InP substrates with measured 1-Sun PV efficiencies of 13.8% and 9.3% respectively, (ii) a compositionally-graded InxGa1-xAs/InP metamorphic buffer layer (MBL) that alters the lattice constant from 5.65 Å (GaAs) to 5.87 Å (InP) and (iii) the growth of In0.52Al0.48As and In0.53Ga0.47As single junction cells on GaAs substrates.

Enterprise Ireland