High Photovoltaic Efficiency of InxGa1-xN/GaN-Based Solar Cells with a Multiple-Quantum-Well Structure on SiCN/Si(111) Substrates

In this paper, I describe an effective method of obtaining a high photovoltaic efficiency of InxGa1-xN/GaN-based solar cells with a multiple-quantum-well (MQW) structure using a SiCN/Si (111) substrate. The MOW region had a higher solar cell absorption than the non-MOW InxGa1-xN/GaN sample. Under an air mass 1.5 global solar spectrum, an average increase of 38.5% in the photovoltaic efficiency of the MOW sample over the control sample was observed. It was found that the device and fabrication technology developed in this study are applicable to the realization of solar cells with high open-circuit voltages (V-oc) of 2.92 to 3.16 V, high short-circuit current densities (J(sc)) of 55.1 to 56.5mA/cm(2), and high fill factors of 89.5 to 91.8%. (C) 2009 The Japan Society of Applied Physics DOI: 10.1143/JJAP.48.072201