Researchers at Russia’s ITMO University, in St Petersburg, are testing compound A3B5 semiconductors in the manufacture of multi-junction, III-V solar cells.
A3B5 materials are a family of semiconductors including gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium arsenide (InAs), gallium phosphide (GaP), indium phosphide (InP), gallium antimonide (GaSb) and indium antimonide (InSb) which are used as basic materials for electronic and optoelectronic applications.
The ITMO University team say they fabricated the top layer of a small, laboratory prototype solar cell which featured A3B5 materials integrated on a silicon-substrate for the first time. They claim the innovation could lead to highly efficient solar cells at considerably lower costs, as the silicon substrate used in their device was much less expensive than materials used in IIV-V solar cells – so named after the groups of the periodic table the elements concerned occupy.