RF Micro sees PV cell breakthrough

LONDON: RF Micro Devices Incorporated, a provider of radio frequency integrated circuits for wireless communications applications, has announced that it has made the industry’s first photovoltaic (PV) cell using high-volume, 6-inch gallium arsenide (GaAs) semiconductor production machinery.

In a statement, RF Micro Devices said it manufactured the photovoltaic cell at its high-volume, 6-inch GaAs wafer fab situated in Greensboro, North Carolina, the United States, with no fabrication equipment modifications.

In July 2009, RF Micro Devices had announced that it had entered into a cooperative agreement with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), of the United States Department of Energy, in order to develop a commercially viable and high-volume-capable compound semiconductor-based process for high-performance multi-junction photovoltaic cells.

RF Micro Devices said that NREL’s technology has demonstrated one of the highest reported solar cell conversion efficiencies in the world – at 40.8% – and further, considerable improvements in efficiency are expected.

The company added that it made its solar cell in the Foundation Phase of the agreement with the NREL. During the next phase, the Technology Demonstration Phase, photovoltaic cells, using the NREL’s IP and technology, will be manufactured at the fabricating facilities of RF Micro Devices. In the final phase of the agreement – the Production Readiness Phase – multiple, high-volume, 6-inch wafer fabs are expected to demonstrate high-performance photovoltaic cells with high yields, high reproducibility, high reliability, and low cost.