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Multistage interband cascade photovoltaic devices with a bandgap of 0.23 eV operating above room temperature

  • Invited Article
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Published:
Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

Interband cascade (IC) photovoltaic (PV) device structures, consisting of multiple discrete InAs/GaSb superlattice absorbers sandwiched between electron and hole barriers, were grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Details of the molecular beam epitaxy growth and material characterization of the structures are presented. The discrete absorber architecture enables certain advantages, such as high open-circuit voltage, high collection efficiency, high operating temperature, and smooth integration of cascade stages with different bandgaps. The two- and three-stage ICPV devices presented in this article operate at room temperature with substantial open-circuit voltages at a cutoff wavelength of 5.3 μm (corresponding to a bandgap of 0.23 eV), the longest ever reported for room temperature PV devices. The device characteristics indicate a high level of current matching and demonstrate the advantages of the interband cascade approach in thermophotovoltaic cell design.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Yuchao Jiang, Lihua Zhao, Chao Niu, and Ernest S. Sanchez for technical assistance. This study was supported in part by the DoE EPSCoR program (DE-SC0004523) and C-SPIN, the Oklahoma/Arkansas MRSEC (DMR-0520550).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

    Hao Ye, Hossein Lotfi, Lu Li, Robert T. Hinkey, Rui Q. Yang & Lin Lei

  2. Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

    Robert T. Hinkey, Lin Lei, Joel C. Keay, Matthew B. Johnson, Tetsuya D. Mıshıma & Michael B. Santos

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  1. Hao Ye
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  2. Hossein Lotfi
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  3. Lu Li
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  4. Robert T. Hinkey
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  5. Rui Q. Yang
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  6. Lin Lei
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  7. Joel C. Keay
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  8. Matthew B. Johnson
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  9. Tetsuya D. Mıshıma
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  10. Michael B. Santos
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hao Ye or Rui Q. Yang.

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Ye, H., Lotfi, H., Li, L. et al. Multistage interband cascade photovoltaic devices with a bandgap of 0.23 eV operating above room temperature. Chin. Sci. Bull. 59, 950–955 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0144-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0144-6

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