Achievement

The ongoing demand for photovoltaic devices with increased efficiency and reduced costs is driving development of new materials and new synthesis approaches. In collaboration with the Veeco corporation, we are using time-resolved photoluminescence to characterize the minority carrier lifetime and trap state density in gallium arsenide (GaAs) grown by MOCVD. MOCVD growth of GaAs and related compounds is of great interest for the development of multijunction solar cells. Our objective is to relate the electrical defects to materials parameters using time resolved photoluminescence (TRPL). A paper describing the application of this technique to the GaAs materials grown by Veeco is in the final stages of preparation.