Photon ratchet intermediate band solar cells

Yoshida, Megumi; Ekins-Daukes, N. J.; Farrell, Daniel; Phillips, Chris C.

doi:10.1063/1.4731277

Cited by 80 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Here, we estimate the expected conversion efficiency of the TPU-SC, using the detailed balance framework which considers a steady state between carrier generation and recombination at the optimum operation point of SC125. We ignore nonradiative processes in SC for predicting the ideal limit of the conversion efficiency.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Two-step photon up-conversion solar cells

et al. 2017

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Reducing the transmission loss for below-gap photons is a straightforward way to break the limit of the energy-conversion efficiency of solar cells (SCs). The up-conversion of below-gap photons is very promising for generating additional photocurrent. Here we propose a two-step photon up-conversion SC with a hetero-interface comprising different bandgaps of Al0.3Ga0.7As and GaAs. The below-gap photons for Al0.3Ga0.7As excite GaAs and generate electrons at the hetero-interface. The accumulated electrons at the hetero-interface are pumped upwards into the Al0.3Ga0.7As barrier by below-gap photons for GaAs. Efficient two-step photon up-conversion is achieved by introducing InAs quantum dots at the hetero-interface. We observe not only a dramatic increase in the additional photocurrent, which exceeds the reported values by approximately two orders of magnitude, but also an increase in the photovoltage. These results suggest that the two-step photon up-conversion SC has a high potential for implementation in the next-generation high-efficiency SCs.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to ideal theoretical predictions, the IBSC is expected to exhibit extremely high conversion efficiency, >60%, under the maximum concentration and 48.2% under one-sun irradiation5. Substantial progress has been made in this field101112131415161718192021222324252627 since Luque and Martí have proposed this concept of IBSC in 1997 (ref. 5).…”

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confidence: 99%

Two-step photon up-conversion solar cells

et al. 2017

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“…The fast extraction via tunneling is a requisite for hot carrier photovoltaic operation, allowing extraction of carriers before they thermalize. The transmission via a transmissive state followed by scattering into a non-transmissive state was used primarily as a signature to investigate the carrier dynamics in our cell, but could also be an important feature of an improved hot carrier cell, providing some directionality to the device, akin to a ratchet [20].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optoelectronic characterization of carrier extraction in a hot carrier photovoltaic cell structure

Dimmock

Kauer

Smith

et al. 2016

J. Opt.

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A hot carrier photovoltaic cell requires extraction of electrons on a timescale faster than they can lose energy to the lattice. We optically and optoelectronically characterize two resonant tunneling structures, showing their compatability with hot carrier photovoltaic operation, demonstrating structural and carrier extraction properties necessary for such a device. In particular we use time resolved and temperature dependent photoluminescence to determine extraction timescales and energy levels in the structures and demonstrate fast carrier extraction by tunneling. We also show that such devices are capable of extracting photo-generated electrons at high carrier densities, with an open circuit voltage in excess of 1V.

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“…This scheme works to prevent the relaxation of carriers in the CB via the intermediate states, while providing long carrier lifetimes in the RB to promote the second absorption step. This concept has previously been shown to result in a maximum theoretical 1-sun efficiency of 48.5% [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We recently proposed a solution to this problem employing a photon ratchet mechanism to decouple intermediate electrons from states in the VB, thereby extending carrier lifetimes in the intermediate states [12], [13]. In this arrangement, shown schematically in figure 1b, there are two bands of states between the VB and CB.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum Cascade Photon Ratchets for Intermediate-Band Solar Cells

Curtin

Yoshida

Pusch

et al. 2016

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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Abstract-We propose an antimonide-based quantum cascade design to demonstrate the ratchet mechanism for incorporation into the recently suggested photon ratchet intermediate band solar cell. We realise the photon ratchet as a semiconductor heterostructure in which electrons are optically excited into an intermediate band and spatially decoupled from the valence band through a type-II quantum cascade. This process reduces both radiative and non-radiative recombination and can thereby increase the solar cell efficiency over intermediate band solar cells. Our design method uses an adaptive simulated annealing genetic algorithm to determine the optimum thicknesses of semiconductor layers in the quantum cascade, allowing efficient transport (via phonon emission) of the electrons away from the interband active region.Index Terms-intermediate band solar cell, photon ratchet.

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Photon ratchet intermediate band solar cells

Cited by 80 publications

References 23 publications

Two-step photon up-conversion solar cells

Two-step photon up-conversion solar cells

Optoelectronic characterization of carrier extraction in a hot carrier photovoltaic cell structure

Quantum Cascade Photon Ratchets for Intermediate-Band Solar Cells

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