The window layers effect on the hardness improvement of space solar cells exposed to the 1 MeV electron irradiations

Because of their state of art technology, GaAs solar cells are generally preferred for spatial applications. Exposure to proton and electron irradiations, solar cells suffer significant degradation in their performance such as short circuit current and open circuit voltage. Adding a window layer helps in effectively reducing the surface recombination at the emitter surface of the solar cell without absorbing the useful light required for the device. It remains to study the physics of the window-emitter hetero-interface in order to understand how the window layer presence increases the minority carrier lifetime of the solar cell exposed to particles irradiation. In this work Numerical simulation has been used to study the AlxGa1-xAs window composition effect on the current–voltage characteristics of a GaAs solar cell under AM0 illumination and exposed to 1 MeV electron irradiation. To predict the effect of window layers on solar cells degradation, the current voltage characteristic are evaluated for different electron irradiation fluences. The findings are supported by experimental data. They lead us to get to know how the window layer improves resistance to electron irradiation through its own parameters.     

1 MeV电子辐照下晶格匹配与晶格失配GaInP/GaInAs/Ge三结太阳电池辐射效应研究

对采用MOCVD方法制备的晶格匹配(LM)与晶格失配(UMM)GaInP/GaInAs/Ge三结太阳电池进行了1MeV电子辐射效应研究。结果表明:在电子辐照下,两种电池的I-V特性参数(开路电压Voc,短路电流Isc,最大输出功率Pmax)均发生衰降,且晶格失配电池的I-V特性参数衰降均大于晶格匹配电池。在光谱响应方面,对于顶电池,晶格匹配电池的衰降大于晶格失配电池;而中间电池则前者衰降小于后者;另外,Ge底电池的光谱响应表现特殊,辐照后光谱响应变强。     

选择性发射极晶体硅太阳电池的二维器件模拟及性能优化

利用PC2D二维模拟软件对选择性发射极晶体硅太阳电池(SE电池)进行了器件模拟和参数优化的研究.在对丝网印刷磷浆法制备的SE电池的实测典型电流-电压曲线实现完美拟合的基础上,全面系统地研究了栅线、基区、选择性发射区和背表面场层等的参数对电池性能的影响.模拟表明:基区少子寿命、前表面复合速度和背表面复合速度是对电池效率影响幅度最大的三个参数.在所研究的参数范围内,当基区少子寿命从50μs上升到600μs时,电池效率从18.53%上升到19.27%.低的前表面复合速度是使发射区方块电阻配比优化有意义的前提.要取得理想的电池效率,背表面复合速度需控制在500 cm/s以下.此外,对于不同的前表面复合速度,电池效率的最大值总是在50—90Ω/□的重掺区方阻、110—180Ω/□的轻掺区方阻的范围内取得.对不同的栅线数目,重掺区宽度与栅线间距之比为32%时,电池的效率最高.另外,在主栅结构保持较低面积比率的前提下,主栅数目的增加也可提高效率.最后,通过优化p型SE电池的效率可达到20.45%.     

GaInP/GaAs/Ge三结太阳电池不同能量质子辐照损伤模拟

以GaInP/GaAs/Ge三结太阳电池为研究对象,开展了能量为0.7, 1, 3, 5, 10 MeV的质子辐照损伤模拟研究,建立了三结太阳电池结构模型和不同能量质子辐照模型,获得了不同质子辐照条件下的I-V曲线,光谱响应曲线,结合已有实验结果验证了本文模拟结果,分析了三结太阳电池短路电流、开路电压、最大功率、光谱响应随质子能量的变化规律,利用不同辐照条件下三结太阳电池最大输出功率退化结果,拟合得到了三结太阳电池最大输出功率随位移损伤剂量的退化曲线.研究结果表明,质子辐照会在三结太阳电池中引入位移损伤缺陷,使得少数载流子扩散长度退化幅度随质子能量的减小而增大,从而导致三结太阳电池相关电学参数的退化随质子能量的减小而增大.相同辐照条件下,中电池光谱响应退化幅度远大于顶电池光谱响应退化幅度,中电池抗辐照性能较差,同时中电池长波范围内光谱响应的退化幅度比短波范围更大,表明中电池相关电学参数的退化主要来源于基区损伤.     

Photoelectronic characterization of n-type silicon wafers using photocarrier radiometry

Photocarrier radiometry (PCR) was used to characterize four n-type silicon wafers with different resistivity values in the 1-20 Ω cm range. Simulations of the PCR signal have been performed to study the influence of the recombination lifetime and front surface recombination velocity on them; besides, the transport parameters (carrier recombination lifetime, diffusion coefficient, and frontal surface recombination) of the wafers were obtained by means of a fitting procedure. The PCR images that are related to the lifetime are presented, and the first photoelectronic images of a porous silicon sample are obtained.     

调制激光致硅晶圆载流子辐射扫描成像试验研究

建立了调制激光诱发硅晶圆少数载流子密度波一维模型, 仿真分析了少数载流子输运参数对调制激光诱发载流子辐射信号频域响应的影响. 利用调制激光诱发载流子辐射扫描成像系统对含有表面划痕的硅晶圆进行了扫描成像试验研究. 通过少数载流子密度波模型与多参数拟合方法反求得到了扫描区域的输运参数二维分布图. 该方法得到的少数载流子寿命与利用传统光电导方法测量的少数载流子寿命结果相符; 分析了划痕对载流子输运参数造成的影响, 与光电导方法比较, 该方法可以测量不同位置的全部载流子输运参数且分辨率高.     

载流子选择性接触:高效硅太阳电池的选择

太阳电池可看成由光子吸收层和接触层两个基本单元组成,接触层是高复合活性金属界面和光子吸收层之间的区域.为了进一步提高硅太阳电池的转换效率,关键是降低光子吸收层和接触之间的复合损失.近年来,载流子选择性接触引起了光伏界的研究兴趣,其被认为是接近硅太阳电池效率理论极限的最后的障碍之一.本文分析了三种类型的载流子选择性接触:在光子吸收层与金属界面之间引入薄的重掺杂层,即所谓的发射极或背面场;利用两种材料之间的导带或价带对齐;利用高功函数的金属氧化物与晶硅接触从而在晶硅中感应能带弯曲.基于一维太阳电池模拟软件wx AMPS,模拟了扩散同质结硅太阳电池[结构为(p~+)c-Si/(n)c-Si/(n~+)c-Si]、非晶硅薄膜硅异质结太阳电池[结构为(p~+)a-Si/(i)a-Si/(n)c-Si/(i)a-Si/(n~+)a-Si]和氧化物薄膜硅异质结太阳电池[结构为(n)MoO_x/(n)c-Si/(n)TiO_x]暗态下的能带结构和载流子浓度的空间分布,其中c-Si为晶硅;a-Si为非晶硅;(i),(n)和(p)分别表示本征、n型掺杂和p型掺杂.模拟结果表明:载流子选择性接触的核心是在接触处晶硅表面附近形成载流子浓度空间分布的不对称进而使得电导率的不对称,形成了对电子的高阻和空穴的低阻或者对空穴的高阻和电子的低阻,从而让空穴轻松通过同时阻挡电子,或者让电子轻松通过同时阻挡空穴,形成空穴选择性接触或者电子选择性接触.     

后退火增强氢化非晶硅钝化效果的研究

在本征氢化非晶硅(a-Si:H(i))/晶体硅(c-Si)/a-Si:H(i)异质结构上溅射ITO时, 发现后退火可大幅增加ITO/a-Si:H(i)/c-Si/a-Si:H(i)的少子寿命(从1.7 ms到4 ms). 这一增强效应可能的三个原因是: ITO/a-Si:H(i)界面场效应作用、退火形成的表面反应层影响以及退火对a-Si:H(i)材料本身的优化, 但本文研究结果表明少子寿命增强效应与ITO和表面反应层无关; 对不同沉积温度制备的a-Si:H(i)/c-Si/a-Si:H(i)异质结后退火的研究表明: 较低的沉积温度(<175 ℃)后退火增强效应显著, 而较高的沉积温度(>200 ℃)后退火增强效应不明显, 可以确定“低温长高温后退火”是获得高质量钝化效果的一种有效方式; 采用傅里叶红外吸收谱(FTIR)研究不同沉积温度退火前后a-Si:H(i)材料本身的化学键构造, 发现退火后异质结少子寿命大幅提升是由于a-Si:H(i)材料本身的结构优化造成的, 其深层次的本质是通过材料的生长温度和退火温度的优化匹配来控制包括H含量、H键合情况以及Si原子无序性程度等微观因素主导作用的一种竞争性平衡, 对这一平衡点的最佳控制是少子寿命大幅提升的本质原因.     

100 keV质子辐照对空间GaAs/Ge太阳电池光电效应的影响

利用空间环境模拟设备,用固定能量为100keV、注量为1×10⁹—3×10¹²cm^-2的质子,对空间实用GaAs/Ge太阳电池进行了辐照试验.利用伏安(I-V)特性、光谱响应和光致发光(PL)光谱测试,研究分析了电池的光电效应.试验表明,电池的各种电性能参数如短路电流(I_sc)、开路电压(V_oc)、最大输出功率(P_{m< 关键词： GaAs/Ge太阳电池 质子辐照 光电效应}     

Influence of interface states,conduction band offset,and front contact on the performance of a-SiC:H(n)/c-Si(p)heterojunction solar cells

P-type silicon heterojunction(SHJ) solar cells with a-SiC:H(n) emitters were studied by numerical computer simulation in this paper. The influence of interface states, conduction band offset, and front contact on the performance of a-SiC:H(n)/c-Si(p) SHJ solar cells was investigated systematically. It is shown that the open circuit voltage(V_(oc)) and fill factor(F F) are very sensitive to these parameters. In addition, by analyzing equilibrium energy band diagram and electric field distribution, the influence mechanisms that interface states, conduction band offset, and front contact impact on the carrier transport, interface recombination and cell performance were studied in detail. Finally, the optimum parameters for the a-SiC:H(n)/c-Si(p) SHJ solar cells were provided. By employing these optimum parameters, the efficiency of SHJ solar cell based on p-type c-Si was significantly improved.     

硅锗量子阱结构在硅异质结太阳电池中应用的数值模拟

利用半导体工艺和器件仿真软件silvaco TCAD(Technology Computer Aided Design),模拟研究了采用硅/硅锗合金(silicon/silicon germanium alloy,Si/Si_(1-x)Ge_x)量子阱结构作为吸收层的薄膜晶体硅异质结太阳电池各项性能.模拟结果显示,长波波段光学吸收随锗含量的增加而增加,而开路电压则因Si_(1-x)Ge_x)层带隙的降低而下降.锗含量为0.25时,短路电流密度的增加补偿了开路电压的衰减,效率提升0.2%.氢化非晶硅/晶体硅(a-Si:H/c-Si)界面空穴密度以及Si_(1-x)Ge_x)量子阱的体空穴载流子浓度制约着空穴费米能级的位置,进而影响到开路电压的大小.随着锗含量增加,a-Si:H/c-Si界面缺陷对开压的影响降低,Si_(1-x)Ge_x)量子阱的体缺陷对开压的影响则相应增加.高效率含Si_(1-x)Ge_x)量子阱结构的硅异质结太阳电池的制备需要a-Si:H/c-Si界面缺陷的良好钝化以及高质量Si_(1-x)Ge_x)量子阱的生长.     

Temperature and 8 MeV electron irradiation effects on GaAs solar cells

GaAs solar cells hold the record for the highest single band-gap cell efficiency. Successful application of these cells in advanced space-borne systems demand characterization of cell properties like dark current under different ambient conditions and the stability of the cells against particle irradiation in space. In this paper, the results of the studies carried out on the effect of 8 MeV electron irradiation on the electrical properties of GaAs solar cells are presented. The I–V (current-voltage) characteristics of the cells under dark and AM1.5 illumination condition are studied and 8 MeV electron irradiation was carried out on the cells where they were exposed to graded doses of electrons from 1 to 100 kGy. The devices were also characterized using capacitance measurements at various frequencies before and after irradiation. The effect of electron irradiation on the solar cell parameters was studied. It is found that only small changes were observed in the GaAs solar cell parameters up to an electron dose of 100 kGy, exhibiting good tolerance for electrons of 8 MeV energy.     

晶硅太阳电池中Fe-B对与少子寿命、陷阱浓度及内量子效率的相关性

以太阳电池级直拉单晶硅片为材料,利用瞬态微波反射光电导衰减仪研究了硅片分别经过单、双面扩散后Fe-B对与少子寿命τ、陷阱浓度及制备成电池的内量子效率（IQE）的相关性.对于单面扩散后的样品,Fe-B对浓度分布在较大程度上决定了少子寿命分布;对于双面扩散后的样品,Fe-B对浓度显著降低（在135×10¹¹ cm^-3左右）,已不及其他杂质和缺陷对少子寿命的影响.结合瞬态微波衰减信号和陷阱模型,对单、双面吸杂前后硅片的陷阱浓度进行数值计算,发现经过扩散 关键词： 少子寿命 陷阱浓度 内量子效率 Fe-B对     

电子辐照下GaAs/Ge太阳电池载流子输运机理研究

通过地面模拟辐照试验获得不同能量电子辐照下GaAs/Ge太阳电池电学参数退化的基本规律, 在此基础上使用PC1 D模拟程序分析太阳电池内部的载流子输运机理, 建立不同能量的电子辐照下GaAs/Ge太阳电池中多数载流子浓度和少数载流子扩散长度随辐照粒子注量变化的基本规律. 研究结果表明: 多数载流子浓度和少数载流子扩散长度均随入射电子注量的增大而减小, 多数载流子去除率和少数载流子扩散长度损伤系数均随电子能量的增高而增大, 多数载流子去除效应和少数载流子扩散长度缩短分别是电池开路电压和短路电流退化的主要原因.     

A new approach to determine accurately minority-carrier lifetime

Electron or proton irradiations introduce recombination centers, which tend to affect solar cell parameters by reducing the minority-carrier lifetime (MCLT). Because this MCLT plays a fundamental role in the performance degradation of solar cells, in this work we present a new approach that allows us to get accurate values of MCLT. The relationship between MCLT in p-region and n-region both before and after irradiation has been determined by the new method. The validity and accuracy of this approach are justified by the fact that the degradation parameters that fit the experimental data are the same for both short-circuit current and the open-circuit voltages. This method is applied to the p⁺/n-InGaP solar cell under 1 MeV electron irradiation.     

Temperature-Dependent Photoluminescence Analysis of 1.0 MeV Electron Irradiation-Induced Nonradiative Recombination Centers in n~+-p GaAs Middle Cell of GaInP/GaAs/Ge Triple-Junction Solar Cells

The effects of irradiation of 1.0 MeV electrons on the n~+-p GaAs middle cell of GaInP/GaAs/Ge triple-junction solar cells are investigated by temperature-dependent photoluminescence(PL) measurements in the 10-300 K temperature range. The appearance of thermal quenching of the PL intensity with increasing temperature confirms the presence of a nonradiative recombination center in the cell after the electron irradiation, and the thermal activation energy of the center is determined using the Arrhenius plot of the PL intensity.Furthermore,by comparing the thermal activation and the ionization energies of the defects, the nonradiative recombination center in the n~+-p GaAs middle cell acting as a primary defect is identified as the E5 electron trap located at E_c-0.96 eV.     

Low dose 60Co gamma-irradiation effects on electronic carrier transport and DC characteristics of AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors

The impact of internal irradiation with secondary Compton electrons, generated by gamma-photons, on the characteristics of III-N/GaN-based devices was explored. N-channel AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) were exposed to gamma-radiation from a ⁶⁰Co source for doses up to 600?Gy. Temperature-dependent electron beam-induced current (EBIC) was employed to measure minority carrier transport properties. For low doses below ～250?Gy, the minority carrier diffusion length in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs is shown to increase by about 40%. This increase is likely due to longer minority carrier lifetime induced by internal Compton electron irradiation. An associated decrease in activation energy, extracted from temperature-dependent EBIC, was also found. The obtained increase in transconductance and decrease in gate leakage current indicate an improvement in performance of the devices after low doses of irradiation. For high doses of gamma-irradiation, above ～300?Gy, the performance of HEMTs showed a deterioration. The deterioration results from the onset of increased carrier scattering due to additional radiation-induced defects, as is translated in a decrease of minority carrier diffusion length.     

Heterojunction solar cells produced by porous silicon layer transfer technology

In this paper, we present the result of heterojunction solar cells based on porous silicon layer transfer technology. a-Si/c-Si structured solar cells were prepared in which the c-Si was deposited on annealed double-layer porous silicon by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. The structural properties and the evolvement of the double-layer porous silicon before and after thermal annealing were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and a microwave photoconductive decay method were used to investigate the properties of the epitaxial silicon thin films deposited at different pressures. And, the influence of the deposition pressure on the properties of the c-silicon thin films was investigated. The spectral responses of the cells were studied by a quantum efficiency test. The results show that the epitaxial silicon thin film deposited at 100 Pa has better carrier lifetime and better spectral response. Furthermore, the Raman peak intensity of the silicon film prepared at 100 Pa is much closer to that of a monocrystalline silicon wafer. A simple solar cell structure without any light-trapping features showed an efficiency of up to 10.1 %.     

载流子复合及能量无序对聚合物太阳电池开路电压的影响

聚合物太阳电池中载流子的复合与能量无序对器件的开路电压有着深刻的影响.本文同时研究了基于传统富勒烯(PC71BM)和非富勒烯(O-IDTBR)电子受体的聚合物太阳电池.通过交流阻抗谱、低温电流密度-电压谱、瞬态光电压以及电致发光光谱等手段重点研究了载流子复合及能量无序对电池器件开路电压的影响.具体地,交流阻抗谱和瞬态光电压测试结果表明,富勒烯体系载流子复合损失较为严重.电致发光光谱研究显示,PC71BM器件的发光峰随着注入电流的增加不断向短波长处移动,而O-IDTBR体系发光峰位置基本不变,该结果证明PC71BM体系中能量无序度更高.载流子复合严重及能量无序度更高共同作用导致了富勒烯器件开路电压的降低.     

Crystalline silicon surface passivation investigated by thermal atomic-layer-deposited aluminum oxide

Atomic-layer-deposited(ALD) aluminum oxide(Al_2O_3) has demonstrated an excellent surface passivation for crystalline silicon(c-Si) surfaces, as well as for highly boron-doped c-Si surfaces. In this paper, water-based thermal atomic layer deposition of Al_2O_3 films are fabricated for c-Si surface passivation. The influence of deposition conditions on the passivation quality is investigated. The results show that the excellent passivation on n-type c-Si can be achieved at a low thermal budget of 250℃ given a gas pressure of 0.15 Torr. The thickness-dependence of surface passivation indicates that the effective minority carrier lifetime increases drastically when the thickness of Al_2O_3 is larger than 10 nm. The influence of thermal post annealing treatments is also studied. Comparable carrier lifetime is achieved when Al_2O_3 sample is annealed for 15 min in forming gas in a temperature range from 400℃ to 450℃. In addition, the passivation quality can be further improved when a thin PECVD-SiN_x cap layer is prepared on Al_2O_3, and an effective minority carrier lifetime of2.8 ms and implied Voc of 721 mV are obtained. In addition, several novel methods are proposed to restrain blistering.