Bottom-cell technology for the high-efficiency tandem thin film solar cell on a plastic substrate

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26709019
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Electronic materials/Electric materials
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: TOKO Kaoru 筑波大学, 数理物質系, 助教 (30611280)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 薄膜 / 太陽電池 / 結晶成長 / ゲルマニウム

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The fabrication of advanced solar cells with a high efficiency and wide application is desired. This study investigates the low-temperature synthesis of Ge thin films on plastic substrates for realizing high-efficiency flexible tandem thin film solar cells.
We successfully fabricated a large-grained Ge (111) thin film on plastic substrate using “metal-induced layer exchange” according to the initial project plan. Moreover, we investigated solid-phase crystallization without using metal catalysts. As a result, we fabricated a high-quality polycrystalline Ge thin film at low temperature by controlling the atomic density of the precursor amorphous Ge thin film. Thus, this study resulted in Ge thin films of the highest quality as a bottom cell for flexible tandem solar cells.

Free Research Field

半導体工学