Effect of Indium Composition on the Microstructural Properties and Performance of InGaN/GaN MQWs Solar Cells

Abstract

In the present work, InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) solar cells with different concentrations of indium have been investigated in-depth. It was demonstrated that applying a medium-high indium content (about 28%) does not facilitate solar cell photoelectric conversion efficiency due to the increase of edge dislocations. Moreover, the effects of different indium contents on InGaN/GaN MQWs solar cells were investigated and was revealed, that the short-circuit current density and photoelectric conversion efficiency are improved with the increase of indium contents. However, they show a noticeable reduction in the indium content of 28%. Furthermore, the optical properties and the behaviour of the microstructure defects were analysed. It was also demonstrated that the number of edge dislocations acted as non-radiation recombination centers increasing rapidly when the indium content reaches 28%, playing a key role in decreasing the active number of photon-generated carriers. As a result, the short-circuit current density and photoelectric conversion efficiency decrease obviously for an indium content of 28%. This work can provide insight into the origin of the degradation of these structures and the improvement of device design with medium-high indium contents.

Keywords

• Indium composition
• microstructure and performance
• InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs)
• solar cells