@article{601371198bc242569699d89e217b1a3e,
title = "GaAs thermophotovoltaic patterned dielectric back contact devices with improved sub-bandgap reflectance",
abstract = "We demonstrate GaAs thermophotovoltaic (TPV) devices with a patterned dielectric back contact (PDBC) architecture, featuring a dielectric spacer between the semiconductor and back metal contact over most of the back surface for high reflectance, and metal point contacts over a smaller area for electrical conduction. In the TPV application, high sub-bandgap reflectance is needed to reflect unused sub-bandgap photons to the thermal emitter to minimize energy losses in this portion of the thermal spectrum. We explore different PDBC fabrication processes with SU-8 and SiO2 dielectric spacer layers to maximize sub-bandgap reflectance while minimizing series resistance to increase TPV conversion efficiency. We successfully demonstrate GaAs SU-8 PDBC TPV devices with 2200 °C blackbody-weighted sub-bandgap reflectance of 94.9% and 96.5% with and without a front metal grid, respectively. This is 0.7% and 2.3% (absolute) higher than the mean sub-bandgap reflectance of 94.2% for GaAs baseline TPV devices with 100% Au back contact with front metal grid. Lower sub-bandgap reflectance in TPV devices with front grids indicates the front grid induces light scattering leading to additional parasitic absorption in the TPV device. We also show that for higher contact coverage fractions, the PDBC reflectance cannot in general be treated by a linear interpolation using simple 1D transfer matrix method modeling and should be treated instead as a diffraction grating by solving Maxwell's equations in 3D.",
keywords = "Dielectric-point contact mirrors, Energy storage, Free-carrier absorption, Infrared reflectance, SU-8 photoresist, Series resistance, Thermophotovoltaics",
author = "Arulanandam, {Madhan K.} and Steiner, {Myles A.} and Tervo, {Eric J.} and Young, {Alexandra R.} and Kuritzky, {Leah Y.} and Perl, {Emmett E.} and Narayan, {Tarun C.} and Kayes, {Brendan M.} and Briggs, {Justin A.} and King, {Richard R.}",
note = "Funding Information: The authors thank W. Olavarria, A. Kibbler and J. Carapella for MOVPE growth, and M. Young, J. Buencuerpo, M. Steger, P. Ndione, S. Babcock, Z. Holman, C. Wu, and Z. Yu for useful conversations. This work was authored, in part, by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, the manager and operator of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 . Funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE): Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) under cooperative agreement DE-AR0000993 . The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes. Funding Information: The authors thank W. Olavarria, A. Kibbler and J. Carapella for MOVPE growth, and M. Young, J. Buencuerpo, M. Steger, P. Ndione, S. Babcock, Z. Holman, C. Wu, and Z. Yu for useful conversations. This work was authored, in part, by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, the manager and operator of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308. Funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE): Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) under cooperative agreement DE-AR0000993. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021",
year = "2022",
month = may,
doi = "10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111545",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "238",
journal = "Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells",
issn = "0927-0248",
publisher = "Elsevier",
}