Effect of Growth Interruption on the Properties of GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb/GaSb Heterostructures and the Performance of Thermophotovoltaic Devices

Abstract

AbstractThe effect of growth interruption on the properties of GaInAsSb/(Al)Ga(As)Sb heterostructures and on the performance of GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb/GaSb thermophotovoltaic (TPV) devices grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy is reported. In-situ reflectance monitoring is shown to be sensitive for observation of surface degradation during growth interruption, and this data was correlated with materials characterization by high-resolution x-ray diffraction and 4K photoluminescence (PL). Minority-carrier lifetime by time-resolved PL was used to determine interfacial recombination velocity of GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb and GaInAsSb/GaSb double heterostructures grown with and without interruption, respectively. GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb TPV devices grown without growth interruption have a slightly higher performance compared to those grown with interruption.