In the present contribution, we determine the effect of light wavelength variation on the performances of the non-polar InGaN-based solar cells in order to find the optimum light wavelength that yields a high efficiency. The calculations are performed using a one-dimensional SCAPS-1D tool (One-Dimensional Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator).
Journal of Science: Advanced Materials and Devices (2019) 509e514 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Science: Advanced Materials and Devices journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jsamd Original Article Effect of light wavelengths on the non-polar InGaN-based thin film solar cells performances using one-dimensional modeling Lourassi Madi a, Idris Bouchama b, c, Nadir Bouarissa d, * Applied Materials Laboratory (AML), University of Djilali Liabes, 22000, Sidi Bel Abb es, Algeria Electronic Department, Faculty of Technology, University M Boudiaf, 28000, Msila, Algeria c Inorganic Materials Laboratory, University M Boudiaf, 28000, Msila, Algeria d Laboratory of Materials Physics and Its Applications, University of M'sila, 28000 M'sila, Algeria a b a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Received 14 April 2019 Received in revised form 21 July 2019 Accepted August 2019 Available online September 2019 In the present contribution, we determine the effect of light wavelength variation on the performances of the non-polar InGaN-based solar cells in order to find the optimum light wavelength that yields a high efficiency The calculations are performed using a one-dimensional SCAPS-1D tool (One-Dimensional Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator) The simulation has been carried out by lighting through a nIn0.3Ga0.7As layer An efficiency of 12.24% with the fill-factor FF ¼ 51.35%, open-circuit voltage VOC ¼ 0.72 V and short-circuit current density JSC ¼ 32.80 mA/cm2 is obtained under AM1.5G illumination The quantum efficiency characteristic displays a maximum value of more than 90% in the visible range using AM1.5G illumination Moreover, our results show that with increasing light wavelengths from the blue light (around 450 nm) to the end of the red light (around 700 nm), the efficiency increases from 13.76% to above of 20% The short-circuit current density is also increased from 37.33 mA/cm2 to 53.81 mA/cm2 with increasing light wavelengths from 450 nm to 700 nm However, the variation of the light wavelength seems to have only a small influence on the open-circuit voltage and fill-factor The present study provides information about the properties of the materials used in the cell structure of efficient InGaN solar cells © 2019 The Authors Publishing services by Elsevier B.V on behalf of Vietnam National University, Hanoi This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Keywords: III-N materials InGaN Solar cells Light wavelengths SCAPS-1D Introduction Optoelectronic devices based on III-N materials have received great attention in recent years They are considered as key components of the internet and other optical communication systems [1] In contrast to many other optoelectronic devices, the III-N based LEDs and Lasers show a good behavior and good gain [2] The importance of III-N materials is appearing in the mechanical properties such as the high fusion point (e.g 3000 C for AlN, superior to 1700 C for GaN and up to 1100 C for InN) [3], high hardness and high thermal conductivity … etc [4], in the optical properties such as the low dielectric permittivity and large band gap which cover all the visible spectrum till near-ultraviolet and, finally, in the electrical properties like the high mobility of carriers These materials were widely used for highresolution laser prints [5] Recently, they have been used for highperformance solar panel fabrication [3] Combining the above binary systems gives birth to a new great optical material, the ternary InGaN (Indium Gallium Nitride) This material has the ability to cover the entire visible spectrum because of its adjustable direct band gap that ranges from infrared-region (0.7 eV for InN) to near UV-region (3.4 eV for GaN) [6], and high absorption coefficient (~105 cmÀ1) [7,8] Table gathers the theoretical values of the efficiency and those of Voc and Jsc, obtained in the case of multi-junction structures, homo-junctions and multi-quantum wells (MQWs) based on InGaN under different spectra The reason behind choosing non-polar InGaN material in the present work is that several works demonstrated that the presence of polarization in a InGaN-based solar cell has a negative impact on its outcomes [9e11] In this work, an alternative structure of n-InxGa1-xN/ p-GaN/p-Si thin film solar cells is considered We show how the device performance is affected by the variation of the light wavelength The results are compared with the AM1.5G illumination case (Table 1) * Corresponding author E-mail address: n_bouarissa@yahoo.fr (N Bouarissa) Peer review under responsibility of Vietnam National University, Hanoi https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsamd.2019.08.008 2468-2179/© 2019 The Authors Publishing services by Elsevier B.V on behalf of Vietnam National University, Hanoi This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) 510 L Madi et al / Journal of Science: Advanced Materials and Devices (2019) 509e514 Table Theoretical values of the efficiency, Voc and Jsc obtained in the case of multi-junctions structures, homo-junctions and multi-quantum wells (MQWs) based on InGaN under different spectra Structure InGaN-based hetero-junction pin structures 60 nm (AM1.5) 90 nm 200 nm (AM0) 150 nm (AM1.5) 200 nm InGaN-based homo-junction pin structures InGaN homo (AM1.5) InGaN homo (AM1.5) 200 nm 50/150/200 (nm) 80/300/800 (nm) InGaN homo In% Efficiency Ref 12% 11% 12% 10% 4% 1, 57% 1, 41% 4,6% Matioli 2011 [12] Lang 2011 [13] Neufeld 2008 [14] Zheng 2008 [15] Jani 2007 [16] 16% 17%