This article is cited in 21 papers

Semiconductor physics

Multijunction GaInP/GaInAs/Ge solar cells with Bragg reflectors

V. M. Emelyanov, N. A. Kalyuzhnyy, S. A. Mintairov, M. Z. Shvarts, V. M. Lantratov

Ioffe Institute, St. Petersburg

Abstract: Effect of subcell parameters on the efficiency of GaInP/Ga(In)As/Ge tandem solar cells irradiated with 1-MeV electrons at fluences of up to 3 $\times$ 10$^{15}$ cm$^{-2}$ has been theoretically studied. The optimal thicknesses of GaInP and GaInAs subcells, which provide the best photocurrent matching at various irradiation doses in solar cells with and without built-in Bragg reflectors, were determined. The dependences of the photoconverter efficiency on the fluence of 1-MeV electrons and on the time of residence in the geostationary orbit were calculated for structures optimized to the beginning and end of their service lives. It is shown that the optimization of the subcell heterostructures for a rated irradiation dose and the introduction of Bragg reflectors into the structure provide a 5% overall increase in efficiency for solar cells operating in the orbit compared with unoptimized cells having no Bragg reflector.

Received: 24.05.2010
Accepted: 28.05.2010

 English version: Semiconductors, 2010, 44:12, 1600–1605

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