Dilute nitride triple junction solar cells for space applications: Progress towards highest AM0 efficiency

We report a detailed performance assessment of triple junction dilute nitride solar cells fabricated by a combined molecular beam epitaxy-metal organic chemical vapor deposition process and designed for space applications. The experimental sample exhibits an efficiency level of 30.8% under AM0 illumination. Analyses of the isotype single junction dilute nitride bottom cells reveal a band gap voltage offset of 0.49 V at one sun illumination and a value as low as 0.47 V for full spectrum excitation without filter layers. The analyses point out the limitation of the design in terms of current balancing. With optimized design, an efficiency of 32.1% is possible, revealing the maturity reached by dilute nitride technology in the quest for improving the efficiency of lattice-matched multijunction solar cells.