Abstract
Indium antimonide photovoltaic cells are specifically designed and fabricated for use in a near-field thermophotovoltaic device demonstrator. The optimum conditions for growing the p-n junction stack of the cell by means of solid-source molecular beam epitaxy are investigated. Then processing of circular micron-sized mesa structures, including passivation of the side walls, is described. The resulting photovoltaic cells, cooled down to around 77 K in order to operate optimally, exhibit excellent performances in the dark and under far-field illumination by thermal sources in the [600-1000] °C temperature range. A short-circuit current beyond 10 µA, open-circuit voltage reaching almost 85 mV, fill factor of 0.64 and electrical power at the maximum power point larger than 0.5 W are measured for the cell with the largest mesa diameter under the highest illumination. These results demonstrate that these photovoltaic cells will be suitable for measuring a near-field enhancement of the generated electrical power.