INVERTED METAMORPHIC MULTIJUNCTION SOLAR SUBCELLS COUPLED WITH GERMANIUM BOTTOM SUBCELL

摘要

A multijunction solar cell assembly which includes a first semiconductor body including: an upper first solar subcell having a first band gap; a second solar subcell adjacent to said upper first solar subcell and having a second band gap smaller than said first band gap; a third solar subcell adjacent to said second solar subcell and having a third band gap smaller than said second band gap; a graded interlayer adjacent to said third solar subcell, said graded interlayer having a fourth band gap greater than said third band gap; and a lower fourth solar subcell adjacent to said graded interlayer, said lower fourth solar subcell having a fifth band gap smaller than said third band gap such that said lower fourth solar subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to said third solar subcell, and a second semiconductor body adjacent to and aligned with the first semiconductor body so that light passes through the first semiconductor body into the second semiconductor body.

主权项

1. A method of manufacturing a solar cell assembly of two semiconductor body subassemblies comprising:
(a) forming a first semiconductor body subassembly by:
(i) providing a first semiconductor substrate;(ii) depositing on a first semiconductor substrate a sequence of layers of semiconductor material, including a first contact layer and a sequence of layers forming a plurality of solar subcells over the first contact layer;(iii) mounting and bonding a surrogate substrate on top of the sequence of layers;(iv) removing the first substrate;(v) depositing a metal layer over the first contact layer and lithographically patterning the metal layer to form a first metal grid pattern;(vi) depositing a metal layer over the first contact layer and lithographically patterning the metal layer to form a first metal grid pattern; (b) forming a second semiconductor body subassembly by:
providing a second substrate;depositing on a second semiconductor substrate a sequence of layers of semiconductor material forming a solar subcell, including a third contact layer and a third metal grid disposed over the contact layer; and (c) mounting the first semiconductor body subassembly over the second semiconductor body subassembly so that the second metal grid of the first semiconductor body is at the bottom of the solar cell, and the third metal grid of the second semiconductor body is adjacent to the second metal grid of the first semiconductor body so that incident light passing through the first semiconductor body passes into the top surface of the second semiconductor body.