| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/L62481/01 |
| Title: |
GASB/GAAS HETEROJUNCTIONS FOR THERMOPHOTOVOLTAIC AND SOLAR CELLS |
| Principal Investigator: |
Haywood, Professor S |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Department: |
Engineering |
| Organisation: |
University of Hull |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 April 1998 |
Ends: |
31 March 2000 |
Value (£): |
128,865
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Optoelect. Devices & Circuits |
Solar Technology |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Electronics |
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Most GaSb photovoltaic cells incorporate diffused junctions for economic reasons, even though diffusion encourages grading. Here we propose to investigate an alternative to such devices based on a pGaSb/nGaAs heterojunction grown by MOVPE on a GaAs substrate. Lattice-mismatched heterojunctions are not normally considered for solar cells because high recombination rates are expected to result from dislocations at the interface; hence efficiency is reduced. However, out previous work has shown that despite the 7% lattice mismatch between GaSb and GaAs, reverse bias leakage currents are almost two orders of magnitude lower than for comparable GaSb homojunctions. Since there is a strong correlation between reverse bias and forward bias characteristics is should be possible to produce a GaSb/GaAs photovolataic cell with a performance equal to or better than that of a GaSb homojunction. Acting alone these would provide a cheaper TPV than those currently available as they can be grown on GaAs substrates. In conjunction with a mechanically-stacked GaAs cell these devices could also act as booster cells for space applications providing a cheaper version of existing tandem cells with the potential for improved efficiency. Once these objectives are achieved we plan to investigate integrated GaAs/GaSb soar cells.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.hull.ac.uk |