Germanium-on-silicon virtual substrate for lateral multijunction photovoltaics

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 2020

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Zhao, Xueying,Ph.D.Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Other Authors: Jurgen Michel and Juejun Hu.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129005
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author Zhao, Xueying,Ph.D.Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
author2 Jurgen Michel and Juejun Hu.
author_facet Jurgen Michel and Juejun Hu.
Zhao, Xueying,Ph.D.Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
author_sort Zhao, Xueying,Ph.D.Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
collection MIT
description Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 2020
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spelling mit-1721.1/1290052021-01-06T03:14:36Z Germanium-on-silicon virtual substrate for lateral multijunction photovoltaics Zhao, Xueying,Ph.D.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jurgen Michel and Juejun Hu. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering Materials Science and Engineering. Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 2020 Cataloged from student-submitted PDF of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 79-86). Lateral multijunction photovoltaics based on III-V direct band gap semiconductors enable efficient energy conversion. However, lattice matching between cell and substrate requires the use of expensive Ge or III-V substrates, which limits widespread application of III-V solar cells. Cost reduction can be achieved by using Ge-on-Si virtual substrate where a thin layer of Ge is grown on relatively inexpensive Si substrates, thanks to the greater material abundance and larger wafer diameters of Si. However, the lattice mismatch between Si and Ge can bring about threading dislocations that can significantly impair the efficiency of solar cells. This thesis presents patterned epitaxial growth of pure Ge on Si wafer through ultra-high vacuum chemical vapor deposition that achieves low threading dislocation density. This unlocks the potential for growing lattice-matched III-V photovoltaics of high quality on top of the virtual substrate. In addition, this thesis seeks to understand the mechanisms behind trapping of dislocations. The dislocation studies in this thesis not only shed light on dislocation motion in the Ge-on-Si epitaxy, but can be applied to other lattice mismatched materials systems as well. Lastly, the potential of lateral multijunction photovoltaics is demonstrated through simulation approaches. by Xueying Zhao. Ph. D. Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering 2021-01-05T23:12:30Z 2021-01-05T23:12:30Z 2020 2020 Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129005 1227036990 eng MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 86 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Materials Science and Engineering.
Zhao, Xueying,Ph.D.Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Germanium-on-silicon virtual substrate for lateral multijunction photovoltaics
title Germanium-on-silicon virtual substrate for lateral multijunction photovoltaics
title_full Germanium-on-silicon virtual substrate for lateral multijunction photovoltaics
title_fullStr Germanium-on-silicon virtual substrate for lateral multijunction photovoltaics
title_full_unstemmed Germanium-on-silicon virtual substrate for lateral multijunction photovoltaics
title_short Germanium-on-silicon virtual substrate for lateral multijunction photovoltaics
title_sort germanium on silicon virtual substrate for lateral multijunction photovoltaics
topic Materials Science and Engineering.
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129005
work_keys_str_mv AT zhaoxueyingphdmassachusettsinstituteoftechnology germaniumonsiliconvirtualsubstrateforlateralmultijunctionphotovoltaics