New nitride alloys
At a time when the carbon footprint is at the heart of society's challenges (i.e. ever-increasing energy consumption, depletion of fossil fuels
and global warming), it is essential to increase our efforts to develop renewable energies. Solar energy remains a highly promising way of producing
clean energy. Photovoltaic devices based on high-efficiency thin-film tandem cells are highly promising. At CRHEA, we are developing a new compound
for these tandem cells :
(Zn1-xMgx)3N2 alloy based on abundant, non-toxic elements by molecular beam epitaxy, whose direct bandgap energy at room temperature can vary from 1.0 eV
to 2.9 eV with composition. The targeted tandem cell architectures are based on a 1.7 eV (nitride)/1.1 eV (silicon) bandgap stack, which provides the
theoretical maximum power conversion efficiency with silicon as the bottom cell. In the (Zn1-xMgx)3N2 alloy, the ideal value of 1.7 eV is achieved
at a composition of x~0.5.
The aim of this innovative project is to develop a superior PV cell based on a new nitride alloy made of abundant, non-toxic elements, namely
(Zn1-xMgx)3N2, compatible with c-Si technology.
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