Prof. Thomas Hannappel
(Prof. Thomas-Hannappel, Head of Department of Photovoltaics, Institute of Physics, Ilmenau University of Technology, Germany)
The critical part of high‐performance optoelectronic devices are often specific heterointerfaces. Relevant examples are crucial interfaces of multi junction solar cells, such as III‐V on Si(100), or III‐V on Ge(100). Until recently, III‐V‐compound based triple‐junction solar cells demonstrated the highest conversion efficiencies worldwide reaching almost their practical limit. Thus, meanwhile research is also addressing four to five junction solar cells and lately a four‐junction configuration with optimized band gaps including GaInP/GaAs and InGaAsP/InGaAs tandem cells has been realized yielding a new record efficiency. The paper discusses issues of critical epitaxial, MOVPE‐based preparation and analysis routes including atomic scale growth control and analysis.
Biography of Prof. Thomas Hannappel
Thomas Hannappel is W3 full professor (physics) at Ilmenau University of Technology, Germany, department ‘Photovoltaics’, since 2011. Before, he was provisional head of the Institute “Materials for Photovoltaics” at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and lecturer at the Free University Berlin, where he received his state doctorate in 2005. At Technical University Berlin he obtained his PhD in Physics with studies on ultrafast dynamics of photo-induced charge carrier separation in dye solar cells, he performed at Fritz-Haber-Institute Berlin of the Max-Planck-Society. In 2003/04 he conducted research on silicon/III-V-interfaces at National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Colorado. His current investigations are focused on high-performance solar cells and critical interfaces and he is a key player in the fields solar energy conversion and reactions of critical semiconductor interfaces including silicon/ and germanium/III-V-interfaces, and nano- and quantum-structures.