Recent advances in high efficiency GaInP/sub 2//GaAs tandem solar cells

Abstract

A two-terminal, monolithic, tunnel-junction-interconnected GaInP/sub 2//GaAs cascade solar cell is reported with AM 1.5, global, total- and active-area efficiencies of 27.3% and 28.7%, respectively. Part of the success with this device is attributed to the electronic quality of GaInP/sub 2/, the development of optically thin GaInP/sub 2/ top cells for current matching, and an extensive modeling effort. Recent advances in the growth, fabrication, and characterization of GaInP/sub 2//GaAs devices are presented. Issues related to efficiency, spectral sensitivity, material quality, and device modeling are discussed.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>