Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Germanium Active Layer for Top Cell of a Multi Junction Cell Structure

Intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon-germanium (a-SiGe:H) alloy is generally used in the bottom cell because of its low band gap. The a-SiGe:H has a higher photo conductivity in comparison to the a-Si:H; thus, it is expected that the a-SiGe:H can show better short circuit current density than that of the a-Si:H based solar cell. Therefore, we optimized a-SiGe:H active layer that can be a suitable choice for the front cell of a multi junction.solar cell. Furthermore, we carried out a comparative study of the solar cells that have a-SiGe:H and a-Si:H as respective active layers. The a-SiGe:H based solar cells show higher short circuit current density, while the a-Si:H based cells show higheropen circuit voltage. The current-voltage characteristics of these cells are as follows: (a) V(oc) = 770 mV, J(sc) = 15.0 mA/cm2, FF = 64.5%, and η = 7.47% for a-SiGe:H based cell; and (b) V(oc) = 826 mV, J(sc) = 13.63 mA/cm2, FF = 72.0%, and η = 8.1% for a-Si:H based cell.