Maskless fabrication of quasi-omnidirectional V-groove solar cells using an alkaline solution-based method

Silicon passivated emitter and rear contact(PERC) solar cells with V-groove texture were fabricated using maskless alkaline solution etching with in-house developed additive. Compared with the traditional pyramid texture, the V-groove texture possesses superior effective minority carrier lifetime, enhanced p–n junction quality and better applied filling factor(FF). In addition, a V-groove texture can greatly reduce the shading area and edge damage of front Ag electrodes when the V-groove direction is parallel to the gridline electrodes. Due to these factors, the V-groove solar cells have a higher efficiency(21.78%) than pyramid solar cells(21.62%). Interestingly, external quantum efficiency(EQE) and reflectance of the V-groove solar cells exhibit a slight decrease when the incident light angle(θ) is increased from 0° to 75°, which confirms the excellent quasi omnidirectionality of the V-groove solar cells. The proposed V-groove solar cell design shows a 2.84% relative enhancement of energy output over traditional pyramid solar cells.

Thermal stress reduction of GaAs epitaxial growth on V-groove patterned Si substrates

We investigate the thermal stresses for GaAs layers grown on V-groove patterned Si substrates by the finite-element method. The results show that the thermal stress distribution near the interface in a patterned substrate is nonuniform,which is far different from that in a planar substrate. Comparing with the planar substrate, the thermal stress is significantly reduced for the Ga As layer on the patterned substrate. The effects of the width of the V-groove, the thickness, and the width of the SiO_(2) mask on the thermal stress are studied. It is found that the SiO_(2) mask and V-groove play a crucial role in the stress of the Ga As layer on Si substrate. The results indicate that when the width of V-groove is 50 nm, the width and the thickness of the SiO_(2) mask are both 100 nm, the Ga As layer is subjected to the minimum stress. Furthermore,Comparing with the planar substrate, the average stress of the Ga As epitaxial layer in the growth window region of the patterned substrate is reduced by 90%. These findings are useful in the optimal designing of growing high-quality Ga As films on patterned Si substrates.

Optical and electronic properties of single modulation doped GaAs/AlGaAs V-grooved quantum wire modified by ion implantation

Single GaAs/Al0.5Ga0.5As V-grooved quantum wire modified by selective ion-implantation and rapid thermally annealing was investigated by spatially-resolved microphotoluminescence and magneto-resistance measurement. Spatially-resolved photoluminescence results indicate that the ion-implantation induced quantum well intermixing raises significantly the electron subband energies of the side quantum wells and vertical quantum wells, and more efficient accumulation of electrons in the quantum wires is achieved. Furthermore, the polarization properties of the photoluminescence from the quantum wires show large linear polarization degree up to 63%. Magneto- transport investigation on the ion implanted quantum wire samples presents the quasi-one dimensional intrinsic motion of electrons, which is important for the design and optimization of one dimensional electronic devices.

Side Polished Fiber:A Versatile Platform for Compact Fiber Devices and Sensors

Side polished fiber(SPF)has a controllable average roughness and length of the side-polishing region,which becomes a versatile platform for integrating multiple materials to interact with the evanescent field to fabricate all-fiber devices and sensors.It has been widely used in couplers,filters,polarizers,optical attenuators,photodetectors,modulators,and sensors for temperature,humidity,strain,biological molecules,chemical gas,and vector magnetic monitoring.In this article,an overview of the development history,fabrication techniques,fiber types,transmission characteristics,and varied recent applications of SPFs are reviewed.Firstly,the fabrication techniques of SPFs are reviewed,including the V-groove assisted polishing technique and wheel polishing technique.Then,the different types of SPFs and their characteristics are discussed.Finally,various applications of SPFs are discussed and concluded theoretically and experimentally,including their principles and structures.When designing the device,the residual thickness and polishing lengths of the SPF need to be appropriately selected in order to obtain the best performance.Developing all-fiber devices and sensors is aimed at practical usability under harsh environments and allows to avoid the high coupling loss between optical fibers and on-chip integrated devices.