Open AccessImpact of carrier dynamics on the photovoltaic performance of quantum dot solar cells
Author(s) -
Gioannini Mariangela,
Cedola Ariel P.,
Cappelluti Federica
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
iet optoelectronics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.379
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1751-8776
pISSN - 1751-8768
DOI - 10.1049/iet-opt.2014.0080
Subject(s) - quantum dot , photocurrent , photovoltaic system , optoelectronics , valence band , formalism (music) , solar cell , physics , materials science , band gap , electrical engineering , art , musical , visual arts , engineering
The study presents a theoretical investigation of the impact of individual electron and hole dynamics on the photovoltaic characteristics of InAs/GaAs quantum dot solar cells. The analysis is carried out by exploiting a model which includes a detailed description of quantum dots (QD) kinetics within a drift‐diffusion formalism. Steady‐state and transient simulations show that hole thermal spreading across the closely spaced QD valence band states allows to extract the maximum achievable photocurrent from the QDs; on the other hand, slow hole dynamics turns QDs into efficient traps, impairing the short circuit current despite the extended light harvesting provided by the QDs.