Thin-base high efficiency InAs/sub x/P/sub 1-x//InP multi quantum well solar cells

Thin base (0.25-0.8 micron-thick) InAs/sub x/P/sub 1-x//InP multiquantum well p-i-n solar cells are fabricated by chemical beam epitaxy. An improvement of interface sharpness in the MQW region and the optimization of the cell design (emitter/base thickness and doping level) lead to an Air Mass zero (AM0) efficiency comparable to conventional thick base (>2 microns) P/sup +//N InP solar cells, making these cells particularly suitable for applications where reduced minority carrier diffusion length are expected.