Abstract
By using quasi-Fermi levels introduced by Shockley, which have the meaning of partial chemical potentials of an assembly of electrons and an assembly of holes, and an analogy with galvanic cells, an equation was derived for the photo-voltage of a non-barrier layer semi-conductor photo-cell on the basis of thermodynamic laws. For the case that classical statistics are valid the basic equation leads to the result derived by kinetic considerations. Attention is thus drawn to the application of thermodynamics to photo-voltaic phenomena in semi-conductors.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tauc, J. The thermodynamics of non-barrier layer photo-voltaic phenomena. Czech J Phys 5, 300–303 (1955). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01704837
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01704837