We present a microscopic theory of bipolar quantum well structures in the photovoltaic regime, based on the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism for a multi band tight binding Hamiltonian. The quantum kinetic equations for the single particle Green's functions of electrons and holes are selfconsistently coupled to Poisson's equation, including inter-carrier scattering on the Hartree level. Relaxation and broadening mechanisms are considered by the inclusion of acoustic and optical electron-phonon interaction in a self consistent Born approximation of the scattering self energies. Photogeneration of carriers is described on the same level in terms of a self energy derived from the standard dipole approximation of the electron-photon interaction. Results from a simple two band model are shown for the local density of states, spectral response, current spectrum, and current-voltage characteristics for generic single quantum well systems. PACS numbers: 72.30.+w, 73.21.Fg, 78.67.De APPENDIX A: TWO BAND TIGHT-BINDING MODELThe simplest tight-binding model to describe the conduction and valence band structure of III-V semiconductors like e.g. GaAs is the diatomic model with a twoorbital basis 28 . In this model, the two-band dispersion

This article reviews the application of the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism to the simulation of novel photovoltaic devices utilizing quantum confinement effects in low dimensional absorber structures. It covers well-known aspects of the fundamental NEGF theory for a system of interacting electrons, photons and phonons with relevance for the simulation of optoelectronic devices and introduces at the same time new approaches to the theoretical description of the elementary processes of photovoltaic device operation, such as photogeneration via coherent excitonic absorption, phonon-mediated indirect optical transitions or non-radiative recombination via defect states. While the description of the theoretical framework is kept as general as possible, two specific prototypical quantum photovoltaic devices, a single quantum well photodiode and a silicon-oxide based superlattice absorber, are used to illustrated the kind of unique insight that numerical simulations based on the theory are able to provide.

This paper reports on the development of phosphorous doped microcrystalline silicon oxide (µc-SiO x :H) films as an emitter window layer in flat p-type silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells featuring intrinsic a-SiO x :H buffer layers. We investigated the material properties of n-type µc-SiO x :H films grown at various input gas ratios and correlated the results of SHJ solar cells utilizing varying oxygen content and thickness of the emitter layer to the corresponding film properties. A maximum efficiency of 19.0% was achieved. The excellent short circuit current of 35.8 mA/cm2 for flat cells was attributed to the low optical losses in the emitter window.

The influence of Rashba spin-orbit coupling on zero conductance resonances appearing in onedimensional conducting rings asymmetrically coupled to two leads is investigated. For this purpose, the transmission function of the corresponding one-electron scattering problem is derived analytically and analyzed in the complex energy plane with focus on the zero-pole structure characteristic of transmission (anti)resonances. The lifting of real conductance zeros due to spin-orbit coupling in the asymmetric Aharonov-Casher ring is related to the breaking of spin reversal symmetry in analogy to the time-reversal symmetry breaking in the asymmetric Aharonov-Bohm ring.

The photovoltaic reciprocity theory relates the electroluminescence spectrum of a solar cell under applied bias to the external photovoltaic quantum efficiency of the device as measured at short circuit conditions. Its derivation is based on detailed balance relations between local absorption and emission rates in optically isotropic media with nondegenerate quasiequilibrium carrier distributions. In many cases, the dependence of density and spatial variation of electronic and optical device states on the point of operation is modest and the reciprocity relation holds. In nanostructure-based photovoltaic devices exploiting confined modes, however, the underlying assumptions are no longer justifiable. In the case of ultrathin absorber solar cells, the modification of the electronic structure with applied bias is significant due to the large variation of the built-in field. Straightforward use of the external quantum efficiency as measured at short circuit conditions in the photovoltaic reciprocity theory thus fails to reproduce the electroluminescence spectrum at large forward bias voltage. This failure is demonstrated here by numerical simulation of both spectral quantities at normal incidence and emission for an ultrathin GaAs p-i-n solar cell using an advanced quantum kinetic formalism based on nonequilibrium Green's functions of coupled photons and charge carriers. While coinciding with the semiclassical relations under the conditions of their validity, the theory provides a consistent microscopic relationship between absorption, emission, and charge carrier transport in photovoltaic devices at arbitrary operating conditions and for any shape of optical and electronic density of states.