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Single intermediate-band solar cells of InGaN/InN quantum dot supracrystals

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Abstract

In this paper, an intermediate-band solar cell (IBSC) with only one IB was designed, where the three-dimensional In x Ga1−x N/InN quantum dot supracrystals were regularly arrayed in the i layer of the p-i-n type structural cell. IB characteristics such as position and width derived from discrete quantized energy levels in quantum dots were determined via solving the Schrödinger equation with the Kronig-Penny model. The principle of detailed balance was used to deal with the photoelectric conversion process in the IBSC. Characteristic parameters of the cell such as open circuit voltage, short circuit current density, and photoelectric conversion efficiency were numerically calculated. The influence of In content, average size of QDs, and interdot spacing on the cell performance was further analyzed.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by a National Natural Science Foundation of the P.R. China (contract No. 61274006) as well as a Science and Technology Development Project (Grant No. 2012R10006-05) of Zhejiang Province in the P.R. China.

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  1. College of Physics and Electronic Information Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325035, China

    Qiubo Zhang & Wensheng Wei

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  1. Qiubo Zhang
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  2. Wensheng Wei
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Correspondence to Wensheng Wei.

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Zhang, Q., Wei, W. Single intermediate-band solar cells of InGaN/InN quantum dot supracrystals. Appl. Phys. A 113, 75–82 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-013-7826-9

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