RT Journal Article
T1 Gallium nitride: a strong candidate to replace GaAs as base material for optical photovoltaic converters in space exploration
A1 Fernández Lozano, Javier
A1 Seoane Iglesias, Natalia
A1 Moares Guedes, Jose Augusto
A1 Comesaña Figueroa, Enrique
A1 García Fernández, Julián
A1 Almonacid Cruz, Florencia Marin
A1 Fernández Fernández, Eduardo
A1 García Loureiro, Antonio Jesús
K1 High power laser transmission
K1 Optical photovoltaic converters
K1 Gallium nitride
K1 Wide bandgap
K1 Space exploration
AB High power laser transmission technology is expected to play an important role in spatial exploration. To increase the amount of power delivered, some issues must be addressed. Currently, optical photovoltaic converters are based on GaAs, a material with a bandgap energy of 1.42 eV. In this work we propose gallium nitride (GaN) as base material for optical photovoltaic converters due to its high bandgap (3.39 eV), which reduces both ohmic and intrinsic entropic losses, and its high thermal conductivity and resistance to radiation damage, making it suitable for space applications. We have optimized several GaN optical photovoltaic converter devices under a wide range of laser power densities and temperatures. The resilience to variations in the design parameters is also tested. Results show that, due to their large bandgap energy, GaN devices could suffer from fewer performance losses with the temperature when compared to other materials with lower bandgaps. The devices show great tolerance to variations in the P layer (bottom layer), while the N layer thickness and doping concentration must be carefully manufactured. When compared to GaAs-based devices, GaN shows higher efficiency across the entire laser power density range, achieving efficiencies near 80 % and surpassing the current state-of-the-art power converter by 10 % at 10 . The proposed GaN devices show a peak of performance at a laser power density as high as 100 . Although manufacturing issues could degrade the efficiency of GaN power converters, this results position GaN as a promising material for a new generation of ultra-high efficient optical photovoltaic converters.
PB Elsevier
SN 0030-3992
YR 2025
FD 2025-07-01
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/43988
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/43988
LA eng
NO Lozano, J. F., Seoane, N., Guedes, J. M., Comesaña, E., Fernandez, J. G., Almonacid, F. M., Fernández, E. F., & García-Loureiro, A. (2025). Gallium nitride: a strong candidate to replace GaAs as base material for optical photovoltaic converters in space exploration. Optics & Laser Technology, 192, 113447. 10.1016/j.optlastec.2025.113447
NO Xunta de Galicia - Consellería de Cultura, Educación, Formación Profesional e Universidades (Centro de investigación de Galicia accreditation 2024–2027 ED431G-2023/04 and Reference Competitive Group accreditation ED431C-2022/016) and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund - ERDF/EU). This work was supported by a project selected via the Open Space Innovation Platform (https://ideas.esa.int) as a Co-Sponsored Research Agreement and carried out under the Discovery programme of, and funded by, the European Space Agency (contract number: 4000143581)
DS Minerva
RD 24 abr 2026