Abstract
The GaAs solar cells are grown by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD) and fabricated by photolithography, metal evaporation, annealing, and wet chemical etch processes. Anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) masks are prepared from an aluminum foil by a two-step anodization method. Inductively coupled plasma dry etching is used to etch and define the nanoarray structures on top of an InGaP window layer of the GaAs solar cells. The inverted-cone-shaped nanoholes with a surface diameter of about 50 nm are formed on the top surface of the solar cells after the AAO mask removal. Photovoltaic and optical characteristics of the GaAs solar cells with and without the nanohole arrays are investigated. The reflectance of the AAO nanopatterned samples is lower than that of the planar GaAs solar cell in the measured range. The short-circuit current density increased up to 11.63% and the conversion efficiency improved from 10.53 to 11.57% under 1-sun AM 1.5 G conditions by using the nanohole arrays. Dependence of the efficiency enhancement on the etching depth of the nanohole arrays is also investigated. These results show that the nanohole arrays fabricated with an AAO technique may be employed to improve the light absorption and, in turn, the conversion efficiency of the GaAs solar cell.
Highlights
GaAs is commonly used to fabricate the high conversion efficiency III-V solar cell based on multijunction tandem structure
With the anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) mask, we can fabricate the nanohole arrays with a small diameter that is difficult to make by International Journal of Photoenergy the conventional lithography methods
We report on the improvement of the GaAs solar cells with the nanohole arrays on the InGaP window layer
Summary
GaAs is commonly used to fabricate the high conversion efficiency III-V solar cell based on multijunction tandem structure. An antireflection coating using multilayers with different refractive index materials such as MgF2, ZnS, ZnO, SiO2, SiNx, and TiOx is usually used for the conventional solar cells [2,3,4]. This layer can invoke unexpected problems such as adhesion and thermal mismatch when the solar cell operates under the strong-irradiation condition. It is worth noting that by using such a small opening mask, we can fabricate the nanoholes with an inverted cone shape that is close to the optimized form for the light-management architectures to achieve the high-efficiency solar cells [13]. The conversion efficiency improved from 10.53 to 11.57% under 1-sun AM 1.5 G conditions by using the nanohole arrays
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