Graphene Remote Epitaxy for Solar Cells – A-PROPOS

Record efficiency solar cells are made of III-V materials, but their usage is limited to niche applications due to their high cost. More than 80% of this one is made up by costly substrates, so that a method to recycle them for several consecutive growths would constitute a breakthrough for high-efficiency low-cost devices. As an appealing solution to answer this technological problem, this project aims at developing the remote epitaxy. It consists in the epitaxy on a crystalline substrate covered by a monolayer of graphene and was shown to allow the growth of transferable epilayers. While providing convincing results, the method raises fundamental questions regarding the particle interactions during growth. This project provides with a methodology to clarify those phenomena, as well as original developments for robust and controllable fabrication processes and ambitious objectives in terms of device performances. Beyond photovoltaics, this project also opens perspectives in fields such as silicon photonics or flexible opto-electronic devices.