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Multijunction and Intermediated-Band Solar Cells for a Higher-Efficiency Solar Conversion: Nanomaterials and Structural Approaches

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Special Issue Information
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A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Solar Energy and Solar Cells".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 3478

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Teresa Ben

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Guest Editor

University Research Institute on Electron Microscopy & Materials, (IMEYMAT) Universidad de Cádiz, 11510 Puerto Real (Cádiz), Spain
Interests: using electron microscopy techniques to relate optoelectronic and photonic properties to the nanostructure and composition of nanostructured semiconductor systems for emitters and high-efficiency solar cells

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Third-generation solar cells are being widely investigated today as a main route toward high-efficiency photovoltaics for exceeding the Shockley–Queisser limit. The best energy conversion efficiency often requires manufacturing multi-junction solar cells (MJSC) combining materials’ lattice constant with bandgap energy. One proposed cell device design consists in adding a lattice-matched sub-cell tuned to a specific spectral range to a standard solar cell structure. Otherwise, the metamorphic embodiment is based on using layers of materials with different lattice constants linked by buffer layers. However, other operation principles to the photocurrent generation of increasing interest are based on two-step inter-sub-band absorption in an intermediate-band solar cell incorporating quantum dot superlattices. All of these approaches involve relatively high-cost solar technologies. However, advances achieved in concentration photovoltaics allow offsetting these high costs. Furthermore, MJSC architecture can also be transferred to other, less efficient solar cell technologies, such as CIGS, CdSe, silicon, perovskite, etc., which can offer a relevant cost-performance ratio.

Despite the intensive research carried out in recent years, these systems present inherent problems during the synthesis or the epitaxial growth, and better control of specimen distribution and unfavorable defects must be achieved to reach their ultimate performance. We aim to offer a general perspective of the main structural approaches to manufacturing high-efficiency solar cells, focusing on structure design, material selection, processing capabilities, and techniques to evaluate implementation problems.

Topics to be covered in this Special Issue:

This Special Issue is open to both original research articles and review papers. Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

Nanostructured systems and MBE growth approaches to minimize specimen segregation effects in the heterostructure interfaces;
Dislocation blocking mechanisms during inactive graded buffer growth to strain-free sub-cells in metamorphic epitaxy;
Advances in reducing the migration and accumulation of halide ions at the interfaces in polycrystalline organic/inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells;
Development of manufacturing nontoxic materials as an alternative to lead-based perovskite solar cells;
Control of the valence–inter-sub-band–conduction band transitions in coupled quantum dot layers;
Progress in the structural and functional characterization of complex ternary and quaternary alloys;
Advances in energy conversion applications.

Dr. Teresa Ben
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

lattice-matched multi-junctions
inverted metamorphic heterostructures
organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite systems
segregation control
defect management
III–V alloys
metal halide perovskites
intermediate-band solar cells

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 2942 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identification of the Segregation Kinetics of Ultrathin GaAsSb/GaAs Films Using AlAs Markers

by David Gonzalez, Sara Flores, Verónica Braza, Daniel F. Reyes, Alejandro Gallego Carro, Lazar Stanojević, Malte Schwarz, Jose María Ulloa and Teresa Ben

Nanomaterials 2023, 13(5), 798; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13050798 - 22 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1105

Abstract

For optoelectronic devices from the near to the far infrared, the advantages of using ultrathin III-Sb layers as quantum wells or in superlattices are well known. However, these alloys suffer from severe surface segregation problems, so that the actual profiles are very different from the nominal ones. Here, by inserting AlAs markers within the structure, state-of-the-art transmission electron microscopy techniques were used to precisely monitor the incorporation/segregation of Sb in ultrathin GaAsSb films (from 1 to 20 monolayers (MLs)). Our rigorous analysis allows us to apply the most successful model for describing the segregation of III-Sb alloys (three-layer kinetic model) in an unprecedented way, limiting the number of parameters to be fitted. The simulation results show that the segregation energy is not constant throughout the growth (which is not considered in any segregation model) but has an exponential decay from 0.18 eV to converge asymptotically towards 0.05 eV. This explains why the Sb profiles follow a sigmoidal growth model curve with an initial lag in Sb incorporation of 5 MLs and would be consistent with a progressive change in surface reconstruction as the floating layer is enriched. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multijunction and Intermediated-Band Solar Cells for a Higher-Efficiency Solar Conversion: Nanomaterials and Structural Approaches)

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14 pages, 3346 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Tailoring of AlAs/InAs/GaAs QDs Nanostructures via Capping Growth Rate

by Nazaret Ruiz, Daniel Fernandez, Esperanza Luna, Lazar Stanojević, Teresa Ben, Sara Flores, Verónica Braza, Alejandro Gallego-Carro, Guillermo Bárcena-González, Andres Yañez, José María Ulloa and David González

Nanomaterials 2022, 12(14), 2504; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12142504 - 21 Jul 2022

Viewed by 1349

Abstract

The use of thin AlA capping layers (CLs) on InAs quantum dots (QDs) has recently received considerable attention due to improved photovoltaic performance in QD solar cells. However, there is little data on the structural changes that occur during capping and their relation to different growth conditions. In this work, we studied the effect of AlA capping growth rate (CGR) on the structural features of InAs QDs in terms of shape, size, density, and average content. As will be shown, there are notable differences in the characteristics of the QDs upon changing CGR. The Al distribution analysis in the CL around the QDs was revealed to be the key. On the one hand, for the lowest CGR, Al has a homogeneous distribution over the entire surface, but there is a large thickening of the CL on the sides of the QD. As a result, the QDs are lower, lenticular in shape, but richer in In. On the other hand, for the higher CGRs, Al accumulates preferentially around the QD but with a more uniform thickness, resulting in taller QDs, which progressively adopt a truncated pyramidal shape. Surprisingly, intermediate CGRs do not improve either of these behaviors, resulting in less enriched QDs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multijunction and Intermediated-Band Solar Cells for a Higher-Efficiency Solar Conversion: Nanomaterials and Structural Approaches)

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Review

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29 pages, 4714 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Roles of Inorganic Oxide Based HTMs towards Highly Efficient and Long-Term Stable PSC—A Review

by M. Shahinuzzaman, Sanjida Afroz, Hamidreza Mohafez, M. S. Jamal, Mayeen Uddin Khandaker, Abdelmoneim Sulieman, Nissren Tamam and Mohammad Aminul Islam

Nanomaterials 2022, 12(17), 3003; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12173003 - 30 Aug 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2430

Abstract

In just a few years, the efficiency of perovskite-based solar cells (PSCs) has risen to 25.8%, making them competitive with current commercial technology. Due to the inherent advantage of perovskite thin films that can be fabricated using simple solution techniques at low temperatures, PSCs are regarded as one of the most important low-cost and mass-production prospects. The lack of stability, on the other hand, is one of the major barriers to PSC commercialization. The goal of this review is to highlight the most important aspects of recent improvements in PSCs, such as structural modification and fabrication procedures, which have resulted in increased device stability. The role of different types of hole transport layers (HTL) and the evolution of inorganic HTL including their fabrication techniques have been reviewed in detail in this review. We eloquently emphasized the variables that are critical for the successful commercialization of perovskite devices in the final section. To enhance perovskite solar cell commercialization, we also aimed to obtain insight into the operational stability of PSCs, as well as practical information on how to increase their stability through rational materials and device fabrication. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multijunction and Intermediated-Band Solar Cells for a Higher-Efficiency Solar Conversion: Nanomaterials and Structural Approaches)

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