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Evaluation of the junction’s electric field and the ideality factor of GaAs p-n junction solar cells by using photoreflectance spectroscopy

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Abstract

We investigated the optical and the electrical properties of GaAs solar cells (SCs) by using photoreflectance (PR) spectroscopy and current-voltage (J-V) measurements. The electric fields (F j ) in p-n junctions were evaluated through an analysis of the Franz-Keldysh oscillations (FKOs) of the PR spectra. From the excitation light intensity (I ex ) dependence of the PR, we found that the photovoltaic effect resulted in a reduction of the F j . The F j was gradually reduced by up to 37% from the dark built-in electric field when the I ex was increased (I ex = 2.3 ∼ 181 mW/cm2). We evaluated the ideality factor (n) of the SC via PR spectroscopy, and the results matched the results of the J-V measurements well. From these results, we demonstrate that the F j and the n of the SCs can be evaluated by using PR spectroscopy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 712-749, Korea

    Chang Won Sohn, Im Sik Han, Ryan P. Smith & Jong Su Kim

  2. Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS), Daejeon, 305-340, Korea

    Sam Kyu Noh

  3. School of Nano Engineering, Inje University, Gimhae, 621-749, Korea

    Hyonkwang Choi & Jae-Young Leem

Authors
  1. Chang Won Sohn
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  2. Im Sik Han
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  3. Ryan P. Smith
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  4. Jong Su Kim
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  5. Sam Kyu Noh
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  6. Hyonkwang Choi
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  7. Jae-Young Leem
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Correspondence to Jong Su Kim.

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Sohn, C.W., Han, I.S., Smith, R.P. et al. Evaluation of the junction’s electric field and the ideality factor of GaAs p-n junction solar cells by using photoreflectance spectroscopy. Journal of the Korean Physical Society 64, 1031–1035 (2014). https://doi.org/10.3938/jkps.64.1031

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3938/jkps.64.1031

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