10-Fold-Stack Multilayer-Grown Nanomembrane GaAs Solar Cells

Abstract

Multilayer-grown nanomembrane GaAs represents an enabling materials platform for cost-efficient III–V photovoltaics. Herein we present for the first time 10-fold-stack ultrathin (emitter + base: 300 nm) GaAs solar cells. Photovoltaic performance of 10-fold-stack GaAs solar cells exhibited promising uniformity, with only slight efficiency degradation, where comparatively poor short-wavelength response was mainly responsible for the slightly reduced performance in early grown materials. Secondary ion mass spectrometry revealed the concentration of p-type dopant has been changed due to the out-diffusion of beryllium, while the extent of diffusion increasingly diminished in early grown stacks because of the reduced concentration gradient as well as the decrease of beryllium diffusivity at longer annealing times. It is therefore concluded that the performance degradation in 10-fold-stack GaAs solar cells does not develop continuously throughout the growth, but instead becomes spontaneously saturated at longer growth times, providing promising outlook for the practical application of multilayer epitaxy toward cost-competitive GaAs solar cells.