IGF::OT::IGF MICROLINK AND ITS SUBCONTRACTOR MAGNOLIA SOLAR WILL DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE ADVANCED ANTI-REFL…

Public award description

IGF::OT::IGF MICROLINK AND ITS SUBCONTRACTOR MAGNOLIA SOLAR WILL DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE ADVANCED ANTI-REFLECTION COATING (ARC) DESIGNS THAT WILL PROVIDE A BETTER BROADBAND AND ANGULAR RESPONSE THAN THAT OF CURRENT COATINGS. ADVANCED COATINGS OF THIS NATURE ARE NEEDED TO REALIZE THE FULL POTENTIAL FORTHCOMING GENERATION OF MULTI-JUNCTION SOLAR CELLS THAT WILL CONTAIN FOUR OR MORE JUNCTIONS. WE WILL UNDERTAKE SEVERAL APPROACHES TO THIS PROBLEM: * INVESTIGATE NEW DIELECTRIC MATERIALS THAT WILL ALLOW A REFRACTIVE INDEX INTERMEDIATE BETWEEN THOSE OF THE MATERIALS THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN COMMON USE AS ARCS; * INVESTIGATE A DIELECTRIC CODEPOSITION PROCESSES THAT WILL ALLOW THE FABRICATION OF MATERIALS WITH A WIDE RANGE OF REFRACTIVE INDICES; AND * INVESTIGATE OXIDATION OF AL-CONTAINING III-V SEMICONDUCTOR COMPOUNDS AS A MECHANISM FOR FORMING A MORE TRANSPARENT WINDOW LAYER. BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THESE INVESTIGATIONS, WE WILL FABRICATE AND TEST ON III-V TRIPLE-JUNCTION SOLAR CELLS THE BEST-IDENTIFIED CANDIDATES FOR IMPROVED ANTI-REFLECTION COATING. IF SUCCESSFUL, THE NEW COATING DESIGNS WILL HAVE A REFLECTANCE LESS THAN 5% OVER THE SPECTRAL RANGE 300 NM TO 1800 NM AND OVER A WIDE RANGE OF INCIDENT ANGLES. THE COATINGS WILL BE COMPLETELY COMPATIBLE WITH INVERTED METAMORPHIC (IMM) MULTI-JUNCTION SOLAR CELL TECHNOLOGY AND WILL BE OPTICALLY MATCHED TO IMM SOLAR CELLS. WE EXPECT THE NEW COATINGS WILL ENABLE A RELATIVE EFFICIENCY INCREASE OF AT LEAST 7%, CORRESPONDING TO A 2.5% ABSOLUTE EFFICIENCY INCREASE.