EP3320565A1 - Cellule photovoltaïque et procede de fabrication d'une cellule photovoltaïque - Google Patents
Cellule photovoltaïque et procede de fabrication d'une cellule photovoltaïqueInfo
- Publication number
- EP3320565A1 EP3320565A1 EP16736196.3A EP16736196A EP3320565A1 EP 3320565 A1 EP3320565 A1 EP 3320565A1 EP 16736196 A EP16736196 A EP 16736196A EP 3320565 A1 EP3320565 A1 EP 3320565A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- layer
- photovoltaic cell
- iii
- cavity
- microlens
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
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- 229910052710 silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 claims abstract description 24
- XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicon Chemical compound [Si] XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims abstract description 22
- 239000003989 dielectric material Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 16
- 239000010410 layer Substances 0.000 claims description 182
- 238000000151 deposition Methods 0.000 claims description 24
- 239000011347 resin Substances 0.000 claims description 15
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- 229910052732 germanium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 12
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- GNPVGFCGXDBREM-UHFFFAOYSA-N germanium atom Chemical compound [Ge] GNPVGFCGXDBREM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 10
- 238000010438 heat treatment Methods 0.000 claims description 5
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- 238000005229 chemical vapour deposition Methods 0.000 description 2
- 229910052733 gallium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 150000002290 germanium Chemical class 0.000 description 2
- 239000001257 hydrogen Substances 0.000 description 2
- 229910052739 hydrogen Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- QPJSUIGXIBEQAC-UHFFFAOYSA-N n-(2,4-dichloro-5-propan-2-yloxyphenyl)acetamide Chemical compound CC(C)OC1=CC(NC(C)=O)=C(Cl)C=C1Cl QPJSUIGXIBEQAC-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
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- 229910045601 alloy Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
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- HQVNEWCFYHHQES-UHFFFAOYSA-N silicon nitride Chemical compound N12[Si]34N5[Si]62N3[Si]51N64 HQVNEWCFYHHQES-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
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Classifications
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
- H01L31/04—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices
- H01L31/06—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices characterised by potential barriers
- H01L31/068—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices characterised by potential barriers the potential barriers being only of the PN homojunction type, e.g. bulk silicon PN homojunction solar cells or thin film polycrystalline silicon PN homojunction solar cells
- H01L31/0687—Multiple junction or tandem solar cells
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
- H01L31/0248—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof characterised by their semiconductor bodies
- H01L31/0352—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof characterised by their semiconductor bodies characterised by their shape or by the shapes, relative sizes or disposition of the semiconductor regions
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
- H01L31/04—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices
- H01L31/054—Optical elements directly associated or integrated with the PV cell, e.g. light-reflecting means or light-concentrating means
- H01L31/0543—Optical elements directly associated or integrated with the PV cell, e.g. light-reflecting means or light-concentrating means comprising light concentrating means of the refractive type, e.g. lenses
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02104—Forming layers
- H01L21/02365—Forming inorganic semiconducting materials on a substrate
- H01L21/02367—Substrates
- H01L21/0237—Materials
- H01L21/02373—Group 14 semiconducting materials
- H01L21/02381—Silicon, silicon germanium, germanium
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02104—Forming layers
- H01L21/02365—Forming inorganic semiconducting materials on a substrate
- H01L21/02518—Deposited layers
- H01L21/02521—Materials
- H01L21/02538—Group 13/15 materials
- H01L21/02543—Phosphides
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02104—Forming layers
- H01L21/02365—Forming inorganic semiconducting materials on a substrate
- H01L21/02518—Deposited layers
- H01L21/02521—Materials
- H01L21/02538—Group 13/15 materials
- H01L21/02546—Arsenides
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02104—Forming layers
- H01L21/02365—Forming inorganic semiconducting materials on a substrate
- H01L21/02612—Formation types
- H01L21/02617—Deposition types
- H01L21/0262—Reduction or decomposition of gaseous compounds, e.g. CVD
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02104—Forming layers
- H01L21/02365—Forming inorganic semiconducting materials on a substrate
- H01L21/02612—Formation types
- H01L21/02617—Deposition types
- H01L21/02636—Selective deposition, e.g. simultaneous growth of mono- and non-monocrystalline semiconductor materials
- H01L21/02639—Preparation of substrate for selective deposition
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
- Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
- Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy
- Y02E10/52—PV systems with concentrators
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
- Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
- Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy
- Y02E10/544—Solar cells from Group III-V materials
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
- Y02P70/00—Climate change mitigation technologies in the production process for final industrial or consumer products
- Y02P70/50—Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product
Definitions
- the field of the invention is that of photovoltaic cells and photovoltaic cell manufacturing processes. STATE OF THE PRIOR ART
- III-V material is an alloy of one or more elements of column III of the Mendeleev table with one or more elements of column V of the Mendeleev table, excluding III-V materials containing nitrogen. or boron. This layer of III-V material generally forms a p-n junction on the silicon cell.
- the epitaxy of a layer of III-V material on a silicon layer poses numerous problems, in particular because of the mesh parameter mismatch between these two materials.
- the difference in mesh parameter between the III-V material and the silicon is about 4%, which creates dislocations in the III-V material with density of about 10 9 cm "2.
- the III-V material and silicon have very different thermal expansion coefficients, which can crack the layer of III-V material. This phenomenon is named in the Furthermore, the fact that the chemical mismatch between the III-V material and the silicon induces a nucleating morphology of poor quality, which generates the creation of stacking defects (named "epilayer cracking").
- the invention aims to overcome the drawbacks of the state of the art by proposing a solar cell having improved performance.
- a first aspect of the invention proposes to grow the III-V material in cavities of a layer of transparent dielectric material to block laterally the propagation of dislocations. This prevents dislocations from propagating to the surface of the layer of III-V epitaxial material.
- the disadvantage of such an approach is that the silicon substrate is not completely covered by the III-V material layer which is the light absorbing active layer.
- a layer of microlenses is deposited on the photovoltaic cell thus formed in order to concentrate the light in the cavities which contain the active layer of III-V material.
- the position of the focal point of each microlens of the microlens layer is adjusted by the presence of a transparent layer between the microlens layer and the upper surface of the cavities.
- a photovoltaic cell comprising:
- barrier layer a so-called “barrier” layer of transparent dielectric material, the barrier layer being deposited on the substrate, the barrier layer being traversed by at least one cavity;
- interlayer a so-called "interlayer” layer of transparent dielectric material, the interlayer being deposited on the barrier layer;
- the photovoltaic cell thus formed is therefore particularly advantageous in that it exhibits improved performances due to the decrease in the density of dislocations.
- the layer III-V material due to the deposition of the layer of material III-V in a cavity of the barrier layer.
- the fact that the layer of material III-V does not completely cover the silicon substrate does not penalize the operation of the cell thanks to the microlenses which make it possible to concentrate the light in the areas where the III-V material is located, that is to say in the cavities.
- the interlayer makes it possible to adjust the position of the focal point of the microlenses so that this focal point is at the desired place. Indeed, one can choose the thickness of the interlayer so as to obtain the desired spacing between the microlens layer and the material III-V deposited in the cavity.
- the photovoltaic cell according to the first aspect of the invention may also have one or more of the following features taken individually or in any technically possible combination.
- the barrier layer is traversed by several cavities, a layer of material III-V being deposited in each cavity.
- each microlens has a diameter of between 0.5 ⁇ and 50 ⁇ , and preferably between 5 ⁇ and 20 ⁇ .
- each microlens is configured to have a focal length of between 0.5 ⁇ and 50 ⁇ , and preferably between 5 ⁇ and 20 ⁇ .
- the interlayer has a thickness of between 50% and 100% of the focal length of the microlens.
- the photovoltaic cell comprises in each cavity a layer of material III-V, the layer of material III-V being AIGaAs.
- the photovoltaic cell comprises in each cavity a stack of layers of III-V material, the stack comprising at least two layers of III-V material, each layer of III-V material forming a p-n junction.
- This embodiment makes it possible to have a better yield.
- Each III-V material is preferably chosen according to its forbidden band parameter so as to absorb the maximum of photons coming from the solar spectrum and to respect the adjustment of the currents, that is to say they are of preference chosen so that each sub-cell put in series delivers the same current.
- the stack of layers of material III-V comprises:
- the photovoltaic cell comprises, in each cavity, between the stack of layers of III-V material and the substrate, a germanium layer which makes it possible to reduce the defects in the III-V material layers and to better control growth. different layers.
- the silicon substrate forms a p-n junction. This results in a multi-junction cell, which allows for better performance.
- the photovoltaic cell further comprises a tunnel junction in each cavity, which makes it possible to promote the passage of electrons between the junction (s) p-n contained in each cavity and the junction p-n formed by the silicon substrate.
- the barrier layer is a silicon oxide layer or a silicon nitride layer.
- a second aspect of the invention relates to a method of manufacturing a photovoltaic cell comprising the following steps:
- the method further comprises, between steps (c) and (d), a step of depositing a germanium layer.
- the method further comprises a step of depositing a second layer of III-V material forming a p-n junction in the cavity.
- the step (f) for forming the microlens layer comprises the following sub-steps:
- FIG. 3 a schematic electrical representation of the photovoltaic cell of FIG. 1;
- FIG. 6 an illustration of a substrate Si on which the photovoltaic cell according to the invention can be made.
- a photovoltaic cell according to an embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3.
- This photovoltaic cell comprises a silicon substrate 1.
- the substrate preferably has a lifetime of minority carriers of the order of one millisecond.
- the substrate has a thickness of between 10 and 500 ⁇ . In this embodiment, the substrate has a thickness of 200 ⁇ .
- This silicon substrate preferably forms a p-n junction 27. This p-n junction is called "base junction" 27 in the following.
- the silicon substrate 1 preferably comprises a p-doped zone 2 and an n-doped zone 3.
- the base junction 27 is preferably homo-junction type.
- the photovoltaic cell also comprises a so-called "barrier layer” layer 4.
- This barrier layer 4 is deposited on the base junction 27.
- the barrier layer 4 is preferably made of a non-crystalline transparent dielectric material. This material may for example be an oxide, for example SiO 2 or SiN.
- the barrier layer 4 preferably has a thickness e 4 of between 0.5 ⁇ and 30 ⁇ , and more preferably between 2 ⁇ and 5 ⁇ .
- the thickness of the barrier layer 4 is chosen to be large enough to block the dislocations of a material III-V deposited in its cavities. In this embodiment, the barrier layer has a thickness of 4 ⁇ .
- the barrier layer 4 is traversed by at least one cavity 5, and preferably by several cavities 5.
- Each cavity 5 passes through the barrier layer 4 from one side to the other.
- Each cavity preferably extends in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate 1.
- Each cavity preferably has a width l 5 between 0.5 and 5 ⁇ ⁇ , and more preferably between 1 and 3 ⁇ ⁇ to block dislocations laterally. In this embodiment, each cavity has a width of 2 ⁇ .
- the photovoltaic cell also comprises in each cavity at least one p-n junction 6 formed by a III-V material.
- each cavity is filled with a layer of material III-V.
- the material III-V used in this embodiment is preferably AIGaAs.
- the layer of material III-V has a lower portion 7 in which the dislocations are concentrated. Indeed, thanks to the presence of the barrier layer 4, the density of dislocations in the layer of material III-V 20 is reduced, and furthermore, these dislocations are only located in the lower part 7 of the layer of material III. V 20.
- the layer of III-V material 20 also includes an upper part 6 that has a very low dislocation density, that is to say less than 10 5 cm "2
- the upper part 6 comprises a solid portion lll- P-doped V 17 and a n + 18 doped lll-V material zone.
- the cavity is preferably sufficiently deep so that the upper part 6 absorbs most of the light in its absorption range and, since it has a low density of dislocations, the photogenerated carriers do not recombine.
- the photovoltaic cell also preferably comprises a tunnel junction 8.
- the tunnel junction makes it possible to promote the transport of the electrons from the pn junction 6 to the base junction 27.
- the tunnel junction 8 has been represented between the parts lower 7 and upper 6 of the layer of material III-V 20.
- the tunnel junction could also be located at another place, for example between the lower portion 7 of the layer of material III-V and the base junction 27 .
- the photovoltaic cell also comprises a layer of microlenses 10.
- This layer of microlenses 10 comprises several microlenses 1 1 integral with each other. Each microlens 1 1 preferably has a hemispherical shape.
- the microlens layer 10 is preferably made of resin, more generally in a material transparent in the wavelength range of interest and which can be shaped by micro-moldings and / or by heat treatments associated with trench definitions Each microlens 1 1 is positioned above a cavity 5, in order to concentrate the light in this cavity 5.
- the microlens layer 10 therefore comprises as many microlenses 1 1 as the barrier layer 4 has cavities 5. Each microlens 1 1 is configured to focus the received light in the cavity 5 which is below it.
- each microlens 1 1 preferably has a focal point located in the cavity which is below this microlens.
- Each microlens 1 1 preferably has a focal length of between 2 and 5 ⁇
- Each microlens 1 1 preferably has a diameter of between 5 and 20 ⁇ . In this embodiment, each microlens has a diameter of 10 ⁇ .
- the photovoltaic cell also comprises an intermediate layer 9 disposed between the microlens layer 10 and the barrier layer 4. More specifically, the intermediate layer 9 is deposited on the barrier layer 4 and the microlens layer 10 is deposited on the intermediate layer 9.
- the intermediate layer 9 is made of a transparent dielectric material. This transparent dielectric material may be an oxide such as SiO 2, SiN, a resin, it can also be "spin-on-glass", that is to say beads of silicas dissolved in a solvent that is deposited by centrifugation.
- the intermediate layer 9 makes it possible to adjust the distance between the microlens layer 10 and the layer III V material contained in each cavity 5 of the barrier layer 4. In fact, the thickness e 9 of the intermediate layer 9 is chosen in depending on the desired position for the focal point of each microlens.
- the photovoltaic cell also comprises front metal contacts 12 which make it possible to interconnect the p-n junctions 6 in adjacent cavities.
- the p-n junctions 6 in adjacent cavities can thus be connected in parallel.
- Each front metal contact 12 preferably surrounds one of the pn junctions 6 by contacting both a portion of the upper surface 13 of the barrier layer 4 and a portion of the upper surface 20 of the pn junction 6.
- the front metal contacts 12 are interconnected by a metal line 19.
- the metal lines 19 are then interconnected by additional lines to form an upper electrode.
- the photovoltaic cell also comprises at least one rear metal contact 14.
- This rear metal contact 14 is preferably formed by a metal layer 15 deposited on a lower surface 16 of the substrate 1.
- a photovoltaic cell is thus obtained whose electrical diagram is shown in FIG. 3.
- the pn junctions 6 which are located in adjacent cavities are connected in parallel with each other and then in series with the base junction 27.
- the pn junctions 6 When the material III-V is connected in series with the base junction 27, it is necessary to adjust the forbidden band energy of the material III-V used as well as the thickness of the p-doped zone 17 of each pn junction 6 in order to each of the pn junctions 6 and the base junction 27 produce the same current.
- This technique of adjusting currents is known from the prior art under the name of "current matching". It will be noted that the photovoltaic cell according to the invention shown in FIG. 1 (but also in FIG.
- the single cell is a single cell based on a Si substrate 1 on which a plurality of cavities 5 formed in the barrier layer 4 are made and as many microlenses 1 1.
- the single cell comprises a single layer of Si forming a pn junction and a plurality of cavities each having at least one pn junction and the same number of microlenses as cavities.
- This cell can be manufactured on the whole of an Si substrate, for example on a substrate of the "pseudo square" type (ie a substantially square substrate with beveled corners). Two examples of "pseudo square" substrate with different dimensions are shown in FIG. 6.
- FIG. 4 represents a photovoltaic cell according to one embodiment of the invention.
- the photovoltaic cell comprises in each cavity 5 a germanium base layer 21.
- On this germanium base layer is deposited at least a first layer of material III-V 20a.
- a second layer of material III-V 20b is deposited on the first layer of III-V material 20a.
- the deposition of this germanium base layer 21 at the bottom of the cavity is particularly advantageous because the growth of the germanium layers in the cavity is particularly well controlled.
- the growth of the layers of material III-V 20a, 20b then takes place on germanium instead of taking place on silicon, which limits the density of dislocations in the layers of material III-V 20a, 20b.
- the first layer of material III-V 20a is made of GaAs and the second layer of material III-V 20b is InGaP since these materials have the same mesh parameter as the base layer of germanium 21. Thus, no additional dislocation is introduced into the layers of material III-V 20a, 20b.
- Another advantage lies in the fact that the growth of InGaP and GaAs layers on germanium is very well controlled and can be carried out on an industrial scale.
- each photovoltaic cell preferably comprises:
- the method firstly comprises a step 101 for forming a pn junction from a n-doped silicon substrate 1.
- This silicon pn junction is called a base junction 27.
- the base junction forming step 101 preferably comprises the following substeps:
- This first diffusion barrier 24 may for example be a bilayer comprising a 100 nm SiO 2 layer and a 50 nm SiN layer.
- This dopant may be, for example, BCI 3 ;
- This removal step may be carried out by wet etching, for example with hydrofluoric acid (HF);
- This second diffusion barrier may for example be a bilayer comprising a 100 nm SiO 2 layer and a 50 nm SiN layer;
- This dopant may for example be POCI 3 ;
- This removal step may be carried out by wet etching, for example with hydrofluoric acid (HF);
- the method then comprises a step 102 of depositing a layer 4 called "barrier layer", a transparent non-crystalline dielectric material on an upper surface 28 of the base junction 27.
- this barrier layer 4 is Si0 2 , it can for example be deposited by chemical vapor deposition.
- the method then comprises a step 103 for forming cavities 5 in the barrier layer 4.
- This cavity-forming step 103 is preferably carried out by lithography and dry etching then wet or only by dry etching. This dry etching step is advantageous because it is anisotropic.
- the barrier layer is etched by wet etching so as to form through cavities. This etching step is isotropic, but it does not damage the crystalline properties of the base junction 27.
- the method then comprises a step 104 of depositing a layer of material III-V in the cavities 5.
- the growth of the material III-V in the cavities 5 is carried out by epitaxy, for example in an equipment of MOCVD (according to the English term MetalOrganic Chemival Vapor Deposition) making it possible to make epitaxy in phase steam.
- MOCVD MetalOrganic Chemival Vapor Deposition
- organometallic precursors typically tributylarsenic and trimethylgalium. It is also possible to use triethylarsenic or arsine and phosphine hydride compounds.
- the precursors are diluted in hydrogen.
- a first nucleation layer of III-V material preferably at a low temperature T n , that is to say at a temperature of between 150 ° C. and 450 ° C. and at a high pressure P n , will be carried out. that is to say at a pressure of between 80 Torr and 720 Torr.
- the first nucleation layer preferably has a thickness of between 5 nm and 150 nm.
- a growth layer is then produced at a higher temperature, that is to say at a temperature of between 450 ° C.
- a mixture of the arsenic and gallium precursors is preferably sent to the growth reactor.
- the partial pressure of the precursor of arsenic is higher than that of gallium.
- one or more thermal cycles can be carried out at temperatures of between 500 ° C. and 950 ° C. in order to reduce the density of emerging dislocations in the layers.
- the method may then comprise a step 105 of making metal contact before and rear metal contact.
- the method then comprises a step 106 of depositing on the surface of the barrier layer 4 an interlayer 9 of transparent dielectric material.
- the intermediate layer 9 is Si0 2 , it may for example be deposited by chemical vapor deposition.
- the interlayer is resin, it can be deposited by spin coating (or "spin coating" in English).
- the method then comprises a step 107 of depositing a layer of microlenses 10 on the barrier layer 9.
- a resin layer 30 is first deposited on the barrier layer 9.
- the resin layer 30 may for example be deposited by spinning.
- trenches 31 in this resin layer 30 The portions of the resin layer between two consecutive trenches 31 form pads 32.
- the resin pads 32 are then caused to be cured by a heat treatment so as to form the microlenses 11. Indeed, during the heat treatment step, the resin pads 32 minimize their surface energy, and therefore their surface.
- the surface of each stud 32 is therefore modified to take a hemispherical shape.
- the method has been described in the case where a single p-n junction is formed in each cavity.
- a similar method could also be implemented to manufacture photovoltaic cells having several p-n junctions in each cavity.
- the method instead of a step of depositing a single layer of III-V material, the method could include a step of depositing a stack of layers of III-V material.
- the method prior to the step of depositing the layer or layers of III-V material, the method could include a step of depositing a germanium layer in each cavity.
- the photovoltaic cells could comprise other III-V materials than those described.
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Abstract
Description
Claims
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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FR1556597A FR3038776B1 (fr) | 2015-07-10 | 2015-07-10 | Cellule photovoltaique et procede de fabrication d'une cellule photovoltaique |
PCT/EP2016/066246 WO2017009218A1 (fr) | 2015-07-10 | 2016-07-08 | Cellule photovoltaïque et procede de fabrication d'une cellule photovoltaïque |
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EP3320565A1 true EP3320565A1 (fr) | 2018-05-16 |
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EP16736196.3A Withdrawn EP3320565A1 (fr) | 2015-07-10 | 2016-07-08 | Cellule photovoltaïque et procede de fabrication d'une cellule photovoltaïque |
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EP (1) | EP3320565A1 (fr) |
FR (1) | FR3038776B1 (fr) |
WO (1) | WO2017009218A1 (fr) |
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US20070217019A1 (en) * | 2006-03-16 | 2007-09-20 | Wen-Kuei Huang | Optical components array device, microlens array and process of fabricating thereof |
US7777250B2 (en) * | 2006-03-24 | 2010-08-17 | Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. | Lattice-mismatched semiconductor structures and related methods for device fabrication |
WO2008124154A2 (fr) * | 2007-04-09 | 2008-10-16 | Amberwave Systems Corporation | Photovoltaïque sur silicium |
CN101884117B (zh) * | 2007-09-07 | 2013-10-02 | 台湾积体电路制造股份有限公司 | 多结太阳能电池 |
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2016
- 2016-07-08 EP EP16736196.3A patent/EP3320565A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
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WO2017009218A1 (fr) | 2017-01-19 |
FR3038776A1 (fr) | 2017-01-13 |
FR3038776B1 (fr) | 2018-05-25 |
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