SustEnMat

Some of the components of so-called III-V semiconductors are only available in very limited quantities or are harmful to health. SustEnMat aims to reduce, replace and recycle them in order to make their use more resource-efficient and environmentally friendly.

Semiconductor technology and regenerative energy supply are of the utmost importance in society and science. In both fields of application, the best performance characteristics are achieved with III-V compound semiconductors. They show excellent optoelectronic properties and record values in solar cells, direct solar hydrogen production or CO2 reduction. However, the availability of the Group III element indium is limited (at the level of silver); gallium can also be considered critical and some Group V elements such as arsenic and antimony are also hazardous to health. The objectives of our project are: (i) reduction and substitution of critical elements in III-V device structures, e.g. by increased use of aluminum and reduction of atomic lattice constants and (ii) life cycle analysis and economic perspectives for the fabrication of III-V based optoelectronic devices.