Impact of carrier dynamics on the photovoltaic performance of quantum dot solar cells
- Author(s): Mariangela Gioannini 1 ; Ariel P. Cedola 2 ; Federica Cappelluti 1
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View affiliations
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Affiliations:
1:
Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy;
2: GEMyDE, Group of Studies about Materials and Electronic Devices, Faculty of Engineering, National University of La Plata, Argentina
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Affiliations:
1:
Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy;
- Source:
Volume 9, Issue 2,
April 2015,
p.
69 – 74
DOI: 10.1049/iet-opt.2014.0080 , Print ISSN 1751-8768, Online ISSN 1751-8776
The study presents a theoretical investigation of the impact of individual electron and hole dynamics on the photovoltaic characteristics of InAs/GaAs quantum dot solar cells. The analysis is carried out by exploiting a model which includes a detailed description of quantum dots (QD) kinetics within a drift-diffusion formalism. Steady-state and transient simulations show that hole thermal spreading across the closely spaced QD valence band states allows to extract the maximum achievable photocurrent from the QDs; on the other hand, slow hole dynamics turns QDs into efficient traps, impairing the short circuit current despite the extended light harvesting provided by the QDs.
Inspec keywords: indium compounds; gallium arsenide; electron optics; solar cells; valence bands; III-V semiconductors; semiconductor quantum dots; radiation pressure
Other keywords: hole thermal spreading; closely spaced QD valence band states; steady-state simulations; InAs-GaAs; optical trapping; photovoltaic characteristics; transient simulations; photocurrent; light harvesting; carrier dynamics; hole dynamics; drift-diffusion formalism; electron dynamics; indium arsenide-gallium arsenide quantum dot solar cells
Subjects: Mechanical effects of light; Solar cells and arrays; Photoelectric conversion; solar cells and arrays; Semiconductor superlattices, quantum wells and related structures; Solar collectors, concentrators and control films: optical aspects; II-VI and III-V semiconductors; Electron beams and electron optics
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