Indium Gallium Nitride (InGaN) Solar Cell

This SBIR Phase I project, under topic SB082-052, is directed toward design, epitaxial growth , fabrication and characterization of InGaN solar cells. InGaN thin films grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) will be used to fabricate photonic crystal based high efficiency solar cells. Much more efficient solar cells are possible as a result of photonic crystals that more efficiently capture and use light. InGaN, with varying In composition,can cover more than 60% of the solar spectrum. With such extensive absorption in the infrared, visible and near UV, InGaN is a perfect candidate for fabricating high performance solar cells for commercial applications. The innovation in this project is derived from the fact that the proposed combination of high quality MBE grown InGaN and photonic crystals are expected to provide higher efficiency solar cells. The Phase I will have three primary objectives – (i) MBE growth of high quality InGaN with lower cut off around 2eV; (ii) Design & fabrication of 2D photonic crystals with InGaN thin films; and (iii) design a preliminary InGaN photonic crystal based solar cell. The groups, Illinois Applied Research Associates (IARA) Inc. and University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN, have complimentary expertise on device design ( IARA Inc. ) , materials growth (Notre Dame), Fabrication & Characterization (IARA Inc.). University of Notre Dame will grow InGaN thin films by MBE and IARA will focus on device/photonic crystal design and fabrication. Characterization will also be done by IARA. University of Notre Dame will also participate in basic materials and optical characterization of InGaN thin films