Enhanced Efficiency of Metamorphic Triple Junction Solar Cells for Space Applications

Metamorphic In_0.55Ga_0.45P/In_0.06Ga_0.94As/Ge triple-junction (3J-MM) solar cells are grown on Ge (100) substrates via metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Epi-structural analyses such as high resolution x-ray diffraction, photoluminence, cathodoluminescence and HRTEM are employed and the results show that the high crystal quality of 3J-MM solar cells is obtained with low threading dislocation density of graded buffer (an average value of 6.8\times10^4/cm^2). Benefitting from the optimized bandgap combination, under one sun, AM0 spectrum, 25^\circ\!C conditions, the conversion efficiency is achieved about 32%, 5% higher compared with the lattice-matched In_0.49Ga_0.51P/In_0.01Ga_0.99As/Ge triple junction (3J-LM) solar cell. Under 1-MeV electron irradiation test, the degradation of the EQE and I–V characteristics of 3J-MM solar cells is at the same level as the 3J-LM solar cell. The end-of-life efficiency is \sim27.1%. Therefore, the metamorphic triple-junction solar cell may be a promising candidate for next-generation space multi-junction solar cells.