{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/50527"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/50527","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Impact of Electrical Contacting Scheme on Performance of InGaN/GaN Schottky Solar Cells","abstract":"Realization of low-resistance electrical contacts on both sides of a solar cell is essential for obtaining the best possible performance. A key component of a solar cell is a metal contact on the illuminated side of the cell which should efficiently collect carriers. These contacts can be formed using an opaque metal grid/finger pattern. The metal electrode may be used alone or in combination with a broad-area transparent conductive film. This work aims at investigating the impact of the electrical contacting scheme employed in InGaN/GaN Schottky barrier solar cells on their performance. InGaN is a III-V compound semiconductor and has a tunable direct band-gap (0.7 eV to 3.4 eV) which spans most of the solar spectrum; this fact, along with other beneficial material properties, motivates the study of InGaN photovoltaic devices. A number of groups have recently investigated InGaN-based homo-junction and hetero-junction p-i-n solar cells. However, very few groups have worked on InGaN Schottky solar cells. Compared to p-n junctions, Schottky barrier solar cells are cheaper to grow and fabricate; they are also expected to improve the spectral response because of near surface depletion regions in the shorter wavelength regions. In this particular work on InGaN based solar cells, a Schottky diode structure was used to avoid the issue of highly resistive p-type InGaN. In this study, platinum (Pt) is used to form a Schottky barrier with an InGaN/GaN absorber region. Electrical and optical properties of platinum films are investigated as a function of their thickness. InGaN/GaN Schottky solar cells with platinum as the transparent conductive film are reported and their performance is evaluated as a function of the metal thickness.","abstract_html":"Realization of low-resistance electrical contacts on both sides of a solar cell is essential for obtaining the best possible performance. A key component of a solar cell is a metal contact on the illuminated side of the cell which should efficiently collect carriers. These contacts can be formed using an opaque metal grid/finger pattern. The metal electrode may be used alone or in combination with a broad-area transparent conductive film. This work aims at investigating the impact of the electrical contacting scheme employed in InGaN/GaN Schottky barrier solar cells on their performance. InGaN is a III-V compound semiconductor and has a tunable direct band-gap (0.7 eV to 3.4 eV) which spans most of the solar spectrum; this fact, along with other beneficial material properties, motivates the study of InGaN photovoltaic devices. A number of groups have recently investigated InGaN-based homo-junction and hetero-junction p-i-n solar cells. However, very few groups have worked on InGaN Schottky solar cells. Compared to p-n junctions, Schottky barrier solar cells are cheaper to grow and fabricate; they are also expected to improve the spectral response because of near surface depletion regions in the shorter wavelength regions. In this particular work on InGaN based solar cells, a Schottky diode structure was used to avoid the issue of highly resistive p-type InGaN. In this study, platinum (Pt) is used to form a Schottky barrier with an InGaN/GaN absorber region. Electrical and optical properties of platinum films are investigated as a function of their thickness. InGaN/GaN Schottky solar cells with platinum as the transparent conductive film are reported and their performance is evaluated as a function of the metal thickness.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Jain, Aditya"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Electrical Engineering","degree_department":"Electrical and Computer Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Guido, Louis J."],"committee_members":["Plassmann, Paul E.","Lu, Guo Quan"],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-09-18","date_published":"2014-09-18","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:31Z","subjects":["Transparent conductive layer","Schottky solar cell","Device characterization"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:3693"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:3693","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/50527","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Guido, Louis J."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Plassmann, Paul E.","Lu, Guo Quan"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Electrical and Computer Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Jain, Aditya"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-09-19T08:01:06Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-09-19T08:01:06Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2014-09-18"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Electrical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Transparent conductive layer","Schottky solar cell","Device characterization"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:3693"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/50527"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Realization of low-resistance electrical contacts on both sides of a solar cell is essential for obtaining the best possible performance. A key component of a solar cell is a metal contact on the illuminated side of the cell which should efficiently collect carriers. These contacts can be formed using an opaque metal grid/finger pattern. The metal electrode may be used alone or in combination with a broad-area transparent conductive film. This work aims at investigating the impact of the electrical contacting scheme employed in InGaN/GaN Schottky barrier solar cells on their performance. InGaN is a III-V compound semiconductor and has a tunable direct band-gap (0.7 eV to 3.4 eV) which spans most of the solar spectrum; this fact, along with other beneficial material properties, motivates the study of InGaN photovoltaic devices. A number of groups have recently investigated InGaN-based homo-junction and hetero-junction p-i-n solar cells. However, very few groups have worked on InGaN Schottky solar cells. Compared to p-n junctions, Schottky barrier solar cells are cheaper to grow and fabricate; they are also expected to improve the spectral response because of near surface depletion regions in the shorter wavelength regions. In this particular work on InGaN based solar cells, a Schottky diode structure was used to avoid the issue of highly resistive p-type InGaN. In this study, platinum (Pt) is used to form a Schottky barrier with an InGaN/GaN absorber region. Electrical and optical properties of platinum films are investigated as a function of their thickness. InGaN/GaN Schottky solar cells with platinum as the transparent conductive film are reported and their performance is evaluated as a function of the metal thickness."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Impact of Electrical Contacting Scheme on Performance of InGaN/GaN Schottky Solar Cells"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Guido, Louis J."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Plassmann, Paul E.","Lu, Guo Quan"],"dc:contributor.department":["Electrical and Computer Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Jain, Aditya"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-09-19T08:01:06Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-09-19T08:01:06Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2014-09-18"],"dc:description.abstract":["Realization of low-resistance electrical contacts on both sides of a solar cell is essential for obtaining the best possible performance. A key component of a solar cell is a metal contact on the illuminated side of the cell which should efficiently collect carriers. These contacts can be formed using an opaque metal grid/finger pattern. The metal electrode may be used alone or in combination with a broad-area transparent conductive film. This work aims at investigating the impact of the electrical contacting scheme employed in InGaN/GaN Schottky barrier solar cells on their performance. InGaN is a III-V compound semiconductor and has a tunable direct band-gap (0.7 eV to 3.4 eV) which spans most of the solar spectrum; this fact, along with other beneficial material properties, motivates the study of InGaN photovoltaic devices. A number of groups have recently investigated InGaN-based homo-junction and hetero-junction p-i-n solar cells. However, very few groups have worked on InGaN Schottky solar cells. Compared to p-n junctions, Schottky barrier solar cells are cheaper to grow and fabricate; they are also expected to improve the spectral response because of near surface depletion regions in the shorter wavelength regions. In this particular work on InGaN based solar cells, a Schottky diode structure was used to avoid the issue of highly resistive p-type InGaN. In this study, platinum (Pt) is used to form a Schottky barrier with an InGaN/GaN absorber region. Electrical and optical properties of platinum films are investigated as a function of their thickness. InGaN/GaN Schottky solar cells with platinum as the transparent conductive film are reported and their performance is evaluated as a function of the metal thickness."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:format.medium":["ETD"],"dc:identifier.other":["vt_gsexam:3693"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/50527"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["Transparent conductive layer","Schottky solar cell","Device characterization"],"dc:title":["Impact of Electrical Contacting Scheme on Performance of InGaN/GaN Schottky Solar Cells"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Electrical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:31Z"}