Premium
Impact of silicon quantum dot super lattice and quantum well structure as intermediate layer on p‐i‐n silicon solar cells
Author(s) -
Rahman Mohammad Maksudur,
Lee MingYi,
Tsai YiChia,
Higo Akio,
Sekhar Halubai,
Igarashi Makoto,
Syazwan Mohd Erman,
Hoshi Yusuke,
Sawano Kentarou,
Usami Noritaka,
Li Yiming,
Samukawa Seiji
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
progress in photovoltaics: research and applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.286
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1099-159X
pISSN - 1062-7995
DOI - 10.1002/pip.2726
Subject(s) - solar cell , materials science , photocurrent , quantum dot , optoelectronics , quantum efficiency , silicon , quantum well , current density , short circuit , optics , voltage , physics , laser , quantum mechanics
Abstract The photovoltaic effect of the silicon (Si)/silicon carbide (SiC) quantum dot super lattice (QDSL) and multi‐quantum well (QW) strucutres is presented based on numerical simulation and experimental studies. The QDSL and QW structures act as an intermediate layer in a p‐i‐n Si solar cell. The QDSL consists of a stack of four 4‐nm Si nano disks and 2‐nm SiC barrier layers embedded in a SiC matrix fabricated with a top‐down etching process. The Si nano disks were observed with bright field‐scanning transmission electron microscopy. The simulation results based on the 3D finite element method confirmed that the quantum effect on the band structure for the QDSL and QW structures was different and had different effects on solar cell operation. The effect of vertical wave‐function coupling to form a miniband in the QDSL was observed based on the solar‐cell performance, showing a dramatic photovoltaic response in generating a high photocurrent density J sc of 29.24 mA/cm 2 , open circuit voltage V oc of 0.51 V, fill factor FF of 0.74, and efficiency η of 11.07% with respect to a i‐QW solar cell with J sc of 25.27 mA/cm 2 , V oc of 0.49 V, FF of 0.69, and η of 8.61% and an i‐Si solar cell with J sc of 27.63 mA/cm 2 , V oc of 0.55 V, FF of 0.61, and η of 10.00%. A wide range of photo‐carrier transports by the QD arrays in the QDSL solar cell is possible in the internal quantum efficiency spectra with respect to the internal quantum efficiency of the i‐QW solar cell. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.