Alta Devices, Inc.

Utica Leaseco, LLC

Claudio Canizares

Gang He

Lori D Washington

Brendan M Kayes

Andrew James Ritenour

Ileana Rau

Nikhil Jain

A growth structure having a lattice transition (or graded buffer) or an engineered growth structure with a desired lattice constant, different from a lattice constant of conventional substrates like GaAs, Si, Ge, InP, under a release layer or an etch stop layer is used as a seed crystal for growing optoelectronic devices. The optoelectronic device can be a photovoltaic device having one or more subcells (e.g., lattice-matched or lattice-mismatched subcells). The release layer can be removed using different processes to separate the optoelectronic device from the growth structure, which may be reused, or from the engineered growth structure. When using the etch stop layer, the growth structure or the engineered growth structure may be grinded or etched away. The engineered growth structure may be made from a layer transfer process between two wafers or from a ternary and/or a quaternary material. Methods for making the optoelectronic device are also described.

Optoelectronic devices manufactured using different growth substrates

Methods of manufacturing optoelectronic devices using different growth substrates

A growth structure having a lattice transition under a release layer is used as a seed crystal for growth of optoelectronic devices. The optoelectronic device can be a single- or multi-junction photovoltaic device. The release layer can be selectively removed in an epitaxial lift-off (ELO) process to separate the optoelectronic device from the growth structure and leave the region with the lattice transition intact to reuse the growth structure to grow additional devices. A manufacturing method is described that includes providing a growth structure having a substrate and a lattice transition from a first lattice constant to a second lattice constant, depositing a release layer on the growth structure, depositing on the release layer an epitaxial layer having a lattice constant that matches the second lattice and including an optoelectronic device, and removing the release layer to separate the epitaxial layer and the optoelectronic device from the growth structure.

Growth structure under a release layer for manufacturing of optoelectronic devices

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Morgan Hill, CA, United States of America

Claudio Canizares