Simulation of In. Ga.

N solar cell
using AMPS-1D
Dennai Benmoussa*, Benslimane Hassane and Helmaoui Abderrachid
Laboratory in semiconductor devices
University of Bechar,
Bechar, Algeria
*benmoussade@gmail.com

Abstract—    alloys feature a bandgap ranging from in In Ga N to act as donors which pin the surface Fermi
0.7eV to 3.4eV, covering almost the entire solar spectrum. To level in the conduction band [14]. In addition, in p-type
optimize the efficiency and the best parameters of solar cells, In Ga N with x<60%, a surface inversion layer forms
numerical simulations of    single junction. The preventing direct contact to the p-type bulk [15,16]. These
simulation modeling is important and indispensable for designing difficulties limit the range of Compositions available for
and fabricating    single junction. fabricating solar cells.
We changed the In doping and the thickness of the p-    This paper calculates the optimum efficiency of the
to determine the short circuit current density (Jsc), open circuit In Ga N SJ cells and accordingly the best parameters of the
voltage (Voc), fill factor (FF) and conversion efficiency (η). PV structures, which include the doping density and thickness
of each layer. InGaN SJ solar cells are the basic components of
For    single junction solar cell, the Jsc, Voc, and FF the high-efficiency InGaN tandem cells. So the work in this
have a strong dependence on the In composition. In composition paper is important and indispensable for designing and
is a critical parameter to determine Jsc, Voc, FF, and η of InGaN fabricating InGaN tandem solar cells.
solar cells. . .  Solar cell shows the maximum η ~ 23%.
The band gap of . .  is 1.64 eV and is almost the same II. MODELLING AND SIMULATIONS
with AlGaAs. When the total layer thickness is greater than 500
nm, the absorption becomes saturated and the η increases A. About AMPS-1D
smoothly. The simulation results are congruent with this trend. AMPS-1D is the first-principles simulation tool developed
by the Penn State/Electric Power Research Institute
Keywords-InGaN Solar Cell; p-n Junction; AMPS-1D; (EPRI)[15]. AMPS software used in this study is based on the
simulation .
first-principles, basic equations of semiconductors and solar
I. INTRODUCTION cells: Poisson’s equation, the continuity equation for free holes,
In Ga N Alloys feature a bandgap ranging from the near
and the continuity equation for free electrons.
infrared (0.7 eV) to the ultraviolet (3.4 eV) [1,2]. This range Determining transport characteristics then becomes a task
corresponds very closely to the solar spectrum making of solving the three coupled non-linear differential equations,
In Ga N alloys a promising candidate for radiation-resistant each of which has two associated boundary conditions. In
multi-junction solar cells [3]. Furthermore, it has been shown AMPS, these three coupled equations are solved
that In Ga N can be grown directly on Si substrates by a Simultaneously to obtain a set of three unknown state variables
low temperature process, providing the potential for cheap at each point in the device: the local vacuum level, the electron,
multi-junction solar cells [4]. Previous simulations have shown and hole quasi-Fermi levels. From these three state variables,
that double-junction In Ga N /Si cells could have the free carrier concentrations, fields, currents, etc. can then be
efficiencies as high as 31% [5] computed.
In Ga N Solar cells have been fabricated by a number of Besides the classical continuity equations, other semi-
groups although only for Indium compositions less than classical or quantum transport equations such as the Boltzmann
30%[6–9]. One of the main challenges towards increasing the equation, Quantum Hydrodynamic (QHD) model, Wigner
Indium content in these cells is p-type doping. P-type doping function method, and non-equilibrium Green’s function
has only recently been established for InN and has been method have also been applied to study the trans-port processes
verified by electrochemical capacitance voltage measurements in photovoltaic devices so far [16–18].
[10], variable magnetic field Hall effect [11] and thermo power
AMPS-1D supplies two different approaches to the process
[12]. The difficulty in doping InN p-type is believed to come
of recombination/generation. One is the density of states
from compensation by native defects. The Fermi-stabilization
level [13] lies above the conduction band of In Ga N for
(DOS)/capture cross section model and the other is the carrier
lifetime model. Zhang et al. [7] probably adopted the lifetime
model in the simulation of In. Ga .
 N single junction solar
Indium compositions greater than40%, causing native defects

978-1-4673-6374-7/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE

cell, and set the hole lifetime as  =6.5 ns,which is supposed to TABLE II THE PARAMETERS FOR THE SIMULATION OF IN . GA .
 N
SOLAR CELL
be equal to the hole lifetime of GaN [7]. In this study, we use
the DOS model in the simulation of InGaN solar cells because Layers p - . .  n- . . 
the DOS model could provide much more information about Parameter
recombination/generation in semiconductors than the lifetime Thickness(µm) 0.1--2 0.230
model. Relative permittivity 12.58 12.58
Electron mobility S 498 498
B. Structures of the simulated solar cell (cm²/Vs)
The structure as designed is shown in figure1. For simple Hole mobility S^ 130 130
(cm²/Vs)
simulations, we suppose that the reflection coefficients of front
Carrier density,  _` ^ P:1e+15-1e+19 n: 1.00e+017
and back surfaces are both 10% [6,7]. WT[ "
p-In. Ga .
 N Optical band gap,aZ 1.64 1.64
(eV)
n-In. Ga .
 N Effective density,W 1.57e+018 1.57e+018
WT[ "
Effective density,b 3.62e+019 3.62e+019
WT[ "
Figure 1.Structure of an In. Ga.
 N SJ solar cell.
Electron affinity ,χ(eV) 5.33 5.33
C. Parameters for the simulation
Material parameter equations used for the simulation of the
In Ga N SCs
• Band gap[2]: !" # 0.7! & 3.4 1 * !" * 1.43 1 * !"
• Electron affinity [8,9]:+ # 4.1 & 0.7 3.4 *  "
• Absorption coefficient [9]:
, -" # 2.2 / 10 0 1.24/-" * 
• Effective density of states in the conduction band [8]:
23 # 40.9! & 1 * !"2.36 / 10
• Effective density of states in the valence band[4]:
27 # 45.3! & 1 * !"1.86 / 10:
• Relative permittivity[8]: ;< # 14.6! & 1 * !"10.4 Figure 2.AMPS simulation front panel contains the device and layer grid
parameters, and general layer parameters
CDEF,G HCDGI,G
• Carrier mobility [10] :>? 2" # >@?A,? & OG ;
HJKMK N
L,G

The above formulae with asterisk are obtained from the

linear fitting of the corresponding parameters of InN and GaN. III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The carrier mobility of InGaN is assumed to be similar to GaN,
where i= n, p denotes electrons and holes, respectively, and N These simulations have been made for choosing the best
the doping concentration, while the model parameters>@?A,? structure parameters for the optimal performance of
, >@PQ,? , 2,? and R? depend on the type of semiconductor [10]. In. Ga .
 N SJ cells. The proper total thickness was
calculated first, followed by the optimum doping concentration
and the best thickness of the front layer.
A. Optimum thickness of the front layer
TABLE I MODEL PARAMETERS USED IN THE CALCULATIONS OF THE
CARRIER MOBILITIES. With 1×1017cm-3 carrier concentrations and 4.230 µm total
thicknesses, the corresponding efficiency and Jsc of the solar
Type of STU,V WT X  Y STU,V WT X  Y " Z,V WT[ " R? cell were calculated by changing the p-layer thickness from
carriers
Electrons 100 55 2 / 10\ 0.05 to 2 ųm. In relation to the collection efficiency, the p-layer
1
Holes 170 3 3 / 10\
thickness played a certain role in Jsc. By simulations, it was
2
found that the efficiency for variations of the p-layer thickness
had a peak value as well as Jsc (shown in figure3,4)
 Optimum doping of the front layer

22,35
For that presented optimization, we have chosen a range of
hole doping concentration between 1015 to1019 (cm−3) for p-
layer. The figure 4 schematizes the illuminated characteristics
22,30
J-V of In. Ga .
 N solar cell.
Current density (mA)

22,25
According to these results, we notice a maximal density of
current (22.45mA/cm2) with devise total efficiency (22.99%)
for a value of the doping of the P- layer Na = 1015(cm−3)
22,20

22,15
23

22,10
22

22,05

Current density (mA)

0,0 0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 21

p-layer thicknesses(µm)
20

19
Figure 3. Current density versus the p-layer thickness

18

22,9
17
10^15 5*10^15 10^16 5*10^16 10^17 5*10^17 10^18 5*10^18 10^19 --
22,8
-3
doping concentrations NA(cm )
Device total efficiency (%)

22,7
Figure 4. Current density versus the p-layer doping

22,6

22,5 23

22
Device total efficiency (%)

22,4

0,0 0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 21

p- thicknesses(µm)
20

Figure 4. efficiency versus the p-layer thickness

19
On the one hand, when the p-layer thickness was decreased,
Jsc increased due to the enhancement of the effective collection 18
efficiency resulting from the decreasing distance between the
surface and the space charge region. 10^15 5*10^15 10^16 5*10^16 10^17 5*10^17 10^18 5*10^18 10^19 --
-3
On the other hand, the collection efficiency of the space doping concentrations NA(cm )

charge region would be weakened as the region would be too

close to the surface if the surface recombination was Figure 4. efficiency versus the p-layer doping
considered. And Jsc would decrease because of the reduction in
the effective collection efficiency. Optimum performance of an cd. ef.
 2 SJ solar cell
Accordingly, as the p-layer thickness was increased, both
Both with 1015cm−3 carrier concentrations, the 600 nm
the efficiency et Jsc increased first and then decreased. The
thick p-layer and the 230 nm thick n-layer, the optimum
best efficiency was obtained with about 600 nm p-layer
thickness curves in figure (3, 4) show that. performance of the In. Ga .
N SJ solar cell is shown in
figure7. The corresponding PV parameters (open-circuit
voltage Voc, short-circuit current Isc, fill-factor FF and
efficiency (η) are all summarized in Table 2.
 TABLE III. PV PARAMETERS OF THE OPTIMIZED INP /GE DEVICE. contributes to designing and fabricating InGaN ultra-high
efficiency solar cells.
PV parameters ghW Xij ff η(%)
22.46 1.14 0.894 22.99 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We would like to acknowledge the use of AMPS-1D
program that was developed by Dr. Fonash’s group at
Pennsylvania State University (PSU).
25 I(V)
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20
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concentrations of the front and basic regions are 1015cm−3,the
thickness of the p-layer and the n-layer are 600 nm and 270
nm, respectively, the optimum efficiency calculated is 22.98%
(AM1.5G, 100 mW cm−2, 0.32–1.32µm), and the simulation