Abstract
We report on the characterization of gettered p-type GaP substrates for application in high-efficiency multijunction solar cells. A commercial zinc-doped GaP substrate was divided, with one piece soaked in a phosphorus-saturated gallium-aluminum melt at 975°C. Low-temperature continuous-wave photoluminescence indicated a significant decrease in deep-level impurity peaks due to oxygen and zinc-oxygen complexes after gettering in the phosphorus-saturated gallium-aluminum melt. To illustrate what effect this has on minority-carrier diffusion lengths, Au/GaP Schottky solar cells were fabricated on the substrates, and the spectral response of each was examined. A marked increase in response across all wavelengths on the gettered sample indicates an increase in minority-carrier diffusion lengths. To ensure these results were not simply due to an increase in the depletion region width resulting from a change in carrier density, C–V profiling was performed and found only a small change in carrier concentration of the gettered sample.
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Montgomery, K.H., Allen, C.R., Wildeson, I.H. et al. Gettered GaP Substrates for Improved Multijunction Solar Cell Devices. J. Electron. Mater. 40, 1457–1460 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-011-1605-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-011-1605-1