Abstract
In this article, GaN/ InxGa1 − xN based solar cell with Si substrate and SiCN buffer layer is investigated with the help of modeling and simulation. The performance of the designed device is best suited for the low cost photovoltaic applications in terms of high open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 2.53 V, short-circuit current density (JSC) of 2.83 mA/cm2, Fill Factor (FF) of 76.98% and power conversion efficiency (η) of 4.02% under air mass (AM) 1.5G illumination. The mole fraction of Indium content in InxGa1 − xN plays a significant role in increasing the efficiency and open circuit voltage for improved device performance. A commercial Silvaco TCAD is used for simulation of GaN/InxGa1 − xN based solar cell for extracting the energy band gap, short-circuit current density, power (P) and the power conversion efficiency with different design parameters.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
This article didn’t generate any data or I reused existing data.
References
Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor M, Miller HL (2007) The Physical Science Basis Summary for Policymakers,” Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Inter government Panel on Climate Change, Paris, France
Goldemberg J, Johansson TB and Anderson D (2004) World energy Assessment: Overview: 2004 update. United Nations Development Programme
Belghouthi R, Aillerie M (2019) Temperature dependence of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well solar cells. Energy Procedia 157:793–801
Della Sala F, Di Carlo A, Lugli P, Bernardini F, Fiorentini V, Scholz R, Jancu JM (1999) Free-carrier screening of polarization fields in wurtzite GaN/InGaN laser structures. Appl Phys Lett 74(14):2002–2004
Kushwaha AS, Mahala P, Dhanavantri C (2014) Optimization of p-GaN/InGaN/n-GaN double heterojunction pin solar cell for high efficiency: simulation approach. International Journal of Photoenergy 2014:1–6
Boudaoud C, Hamdoune A, Allam Z (2020) Simulation and optimization of a tandem solar cell based on InGaN. Math Comput Simul 167:194–201
Cai XM, Zeng SW, Zhang BP (2009) Fabrication and characterization of InGaN pin homojunction solar cell. Appl Phys Lett 95(17):173504
Routray SR, Lenka TR (2017) Effect of metal-fingers/doped-ZnO transparent electrode on performance of GaN/InGaN solar cell. J Semicond 38(9):092001
Neufeld CJ, Toledo NG, Cruz SC, Iza M, DenBaars SP, Mishra UK (2008) High Quantum Efficiency InGaN/GaN Solar Cells with 2.95 eV Band Gap. Appl Phys Lett 93(14):143502
Bai J, Yang CC, Athanasiou M, Wang T (2014) Efficiency enhancement of InGaN/GaN solar cells with nanostructures. Appl Phys Lett 104(5):051129
Routray S, Lenka TR (2018) Polarization charges in a high-performance Gan/ingan core/shell multiple quantum well nanowire for solar energy harvesting. IEEE Trans Nanotechnol 17(6):1118–1124
Routray SR, Lenka TR (2019) Effect of degree of strain relaxation on polarization charges of GaN/InGaN/GaN hexagonal and triangular nanowire solar cells. Solid State Electron 159:142–149
Bhuiyan AG, Sugita K, Hashimoto A, Yamamoto A (2012) InGaN solar cells: present state of the art and important challenges. IEEE J Photovoltaics 2(3):276–293
Liou BW (2010) InxGa1-xN–GaN-Based Solar Cells with a Multiple-Quantum-Well Structure on SiCN–Si (111) Substrates. IEEE Photon Technol Lett 22(4):215–217
He XL, Chai XZ, Yu L, Han P, Fan S, Ji XL, Li ZY, Liu B, Tao T, Li JL, Xie ZL (2018) The growth of 3C-SiC on Si substrate using a SiCN buffer layer. Thin Solid Films 662:168–173
He XL, Chai XZ, Yu L, Han P, Fan S, Huang L, Tao T, Li ZY, Xie ZL, Xiu XQ, Chen P (2017) The formation of SiCN film on Si substrate by constant-source diffusion. Thin Solid Films 642:124–128
Liou BW (2011) Design and fabrication of InxGa1 − xN /GaN solar cells with a multiple-quantum-well structure on SiCN/Si (111) substrates. Thin Solid Films 520(3):1084–1090
Brown GF, Ager III JW, Walukiewicz W, Wu J (2010) Finite element simulations of compositionally graded InGaN solar cells. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 94(3):478–483
Li ZQ, Lestradet M, Xiao YG, Li S (2011) Effects of polarization charge on the photovoltaic properties of InGaN solar cells. Phys Status Solidi A 208(4):928–931
Kuo YK, Chang JY, Shih YH (2011) Numerical study of the effects of hetero-interfaces, polarization charges, and step-graded interlayers on the photovoltaic properties of (0001) face GaN/InGaN pin solar cell. IEEE J Quantum Electron 48(3):367–374
Nawaz M, Ahmad A (2012) A TCAD-based modeling of GaN/InGaN/Si solar cells. Semicond Sci Technol 27(3):035019
Mesrane A, Rahmoune F, Mahrane A, Oulebsir A (2015) Design and simulation of InGaN-junction solar cell. Int J Photoenergy 2015:1–9
Chouchen B, El Aouami A, Gazzah MH, Bajahzar A, Feddi EM, Dujardin F, Belmabrouk H (2019) Modeling the impact of temperature effect and polarization phenomenon on InGaN/GaN-multi-quantum well solar cells. Optik 199:163385
Benmoussa D, Hassane B, Abderrachid H (2013) Simulation of in 0.52 Ga 0.48 N solar cell using AMPS-1D. In 2013 International Renewable and Sustainable Energy Conference (IRSEC) (pp. 23-26). IEEE
Brown GF, Ager JW, Walukiewicz W, Wu J (2009) Numerical simulations of novel InGaN solar cells. In 2009 34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC) (pp. 001958-001962). IEEE
Chettri D, Singh KJ, Mathew M, Gupta ND (2018) A novel numerical approach for the calculation of refractive index of Wurtzite InxGa1− xN. Int J Mod Phys B 32(28):1850315
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors are equally contributed in the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
This article does not contain any studies involving animals or human participants performed by any of the authors.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Consent to Participate
Not Applicable.
Consent for Publication
Not Applicable.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Khan, A.N., Jena, K., Chatterjee, G. et al. An Approach Towards Low Cost III-Nitride GaN/InGaN Solar Cell: the Use of Si/SiCN Substrate. Silicon 14, 2107–2114 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-021-01003-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-021-01003-9