2 research outputs found
Strain-Engineered Multilayer Epitaxial Lift-Off for Cost-Efficient III–V Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics
The efficient removal of epitaxially grown materials
from their
host substrate has a pivotal role in reducing the cost and material
consumption of III–V solar cells and in making flexible thin-film
devices. A multilayer epitaxial lift-off process is demonstrated that
is scalable in both film size and in the number of released films.
The process utilizes in-built, individually engineered epitaxial strain
in each film to tailor the bending without the need for external layers
to induce strain. Even without external support layers, the films
retain good integrity after the lift-off, as evidenced by photoluminescence
measurements. The films can be further processed into devices, demonstrated
here with the fabrication of cm-scale solar cells using a three-layer
lift-off process. Based on the included cost analysis, the solar cells
are fabricated with a facile two-step process from the as-released
films. The scalable multilayer lift-off process is highly cost-efficient
and enables a 4-to-6-fold reduction in the cost with respect to the
single-layer epitaxial lift-off process. The results are therefore
significant for III–V photovoltaics and any other technologies
that rely on thin-film III–V semiconductors
Strain-Engineered Multilayer Epitaxial Lift-Off for Cost-Efficient III–V Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics
The efficient removal of epitaxially grown materials
from their
host substrate has a pivotal role in reducing the cost and material
consumption of III–V solar cells and in making flexible thin-film
devices. A multilayer epitaxial lift-off process is demonstrated that
is scalable in both film size and in the number of released films.
The process utilizes in-built, individually engineered epitaxial strain
in each film to tailor the bending without the need for external layers
to induce strain. Even without external support layers, the films
retain good integrity after the lift-off, as evidenced by photoluminescence
measurements. The films can be further processed into devices, demonstrated
here with the fabrication of cm-scale solar cells using a three-layer
lift-off process. Based on the included cost analysis, the solar cells
are fabricated with a facile two-step process from the as-released
films. The scalable multilayer lift-off process is highly cost-efficient
and enables a 4-to-6-fold reduction in the cost with respect to the
single-layer epitaxial lift-off process. The results are therefore
significant for III–V photovoltaics and any other technologies
that rely on thin-film III–V semiconductors