Gallium arsenide solar cells grown at rates exceeding 300 µm h(−1) by hydride vapor phase epitaxy

We report gallium arsenide (GaAs) growth rates exceeding 300 µm h(−1) using dynamic hydride vapor phase epitaxy. We achieved these rates by maximizing the gallium to gallium monochloride conversion efficiency, and by utilizing a mass-transport-limited growth regime with fast kinetics. We also demonstrate gallium indium phosphide growth at rates exceeding 200 µm h(−1) using similar growth conditions. We grew GaAs solar cell devices by incorporating the high growth rate of GaAs and evaluated its material quality at these high rates. Solar cell growth rates ranged from 35 to 309 µm h(−1) with open circuit voltages ranging from 1.04 to 1.07 V. The best devices exceeded 25% efficiency under the AM1.5 G solar spectrum. The high open-circuit voltages indicate that high material quality can be maintained at these extremely high growth rates. These results have strong implications toward lowering the deposition cost of III-V materials potentially enabling the deposition of high efficiency devices in mere seconds.