InN: A material with photovoltaic promise and challenges

The potential of InN as a photovoltaic material is described. For solar applications, several key developments such as p-type doping and solid-state rectifying junctions have yet to be demonstrated. However, the ability of InGaN materials to optimally span the solar spectrum offers a tantalizing solution for high-efficiency photovoltaics albeit in an inherently lattice mismatched material system. For this reason, the characteristics of InN grown on (1 1 1)-oriented germanium and (0 0 0 1)-plane sapphire substrates via molecular beam epitaxy for the application of InN solar cells is described. To provide an efficient sub-cell interconnect for tandem solar cells, epitaxial Al was deposited on a germanium substrate with InN grown on this epitaxial aluminum layer. Consistent with previous results, the electrical characteristics of n-InN/p-Ge, n-InN/n-Ge, and n-InN/Al/Ge were measured and showed no rectifying behavior. As evidenced by X-ray diffraction, minute amounts of unintentional oxygen incorporation during InN growth forms a secondary phase, tentatively assigned to an indium oxynitride, InONx, phase. Photoluminescence measurements of the InN/InONx show spectral peaks at ∼0.7 and ∼3.8 eV consistent with the bulk excitonic bandgap of the two materials. Photoluminescence was also found at ∼1.7 eV and shown to be related to emission from the sapphire substrates.