Ge composition dependence of properties of solar cells based on multicrystalline SiGe with microscopic compositional distribution

The device performance of solar cells, which was based on multicrystalline (mc) SiGe with microscopic compositional distribution, was investigated. It was observed that a small addition of Ge to mc-Si had increased the short-circuit current density without effecting the the open-circuit voltage. It was also observed that the increament of short circuit photocurrent of mc-SiGe solar cells with microscopic compositional distribution was due to the increased absorption coefficients. It was also observed that the absorption coefficient of mc-SiGe at the wavelength of 600-800 nm was 1.2 times larger than that of mc-Si.