New Publication from the SUNLAB: Applied Physics Letters
SUNLAB researchers, including lead author PhD candidate Meghan Beattie, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Waterloo, recently published new results in Applied Physics Letters. They investigated the effect of growth temperature during molecular beam epitaxy on the performance of an InAlGaAs tunnel diode grown on InP and fully transparent at wavelengths above 1000 nm. They demonstrated a 10- to 100-fold improvement in peak current resulting from a 20°C reduction in growth temperature, achieving current densities exceeding 1200 A/cm2. This is an order of magnitude higher than what has previously been demonstrated in similar devices. The authors also presented a dual-junction photonic power converter designed for operation in the telecommunications O-band, showing that the tunnel diode can survive the growth of subsequent junctions.
This work represents an important step forward in the development of InP-based multi-junction photovoltaics for very high illumination intensities in the near-infrared and highlights the importance of minimizing unwanted dopant segregation, illustrating a path toward significant performance improvements through optimization of the growth temperature.
Find out more details in this article in Applied Physics Letters.
M. N. Beattie, C. E. Valdivia, M. M. Wilkins, M. Zamiri, K. L. C. Kaller, M. C. Tam, H. S. Kim, J. J. Krich, Z. R. Wasilewski, and K. Hinzer, High current density tunnel diodes for multi-junction photovoltaic devices on InP substrates, Appl. Phys. Lett. 118(062101) (2021). DOI: 10.1063/5.0036053