Abstract
A self-consistent drift–diffusion simulator coupled with the Poisson equation is developed for amorphous Si p–i–n solar cells. By employing the principle of detailed balance, the present simulator takes into account the nonequilibrium distribution functions for the trap states in the mobility-gap in a self-consistent way so that the treatment of the capture–emission processes are expected to be physically more reliable. We then investigate the physical mechanism of the capture and emission processes under photoillumination: how the trap states in the mobility-gap affect the current–voltage characteristics under p–i–n structures. It is shown that the trap states near the band-edges have much stronger impact on both the device characteristics and the conversion efficiency of photovoltaic devices, compared to those in the middle of the mobility-gap.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Shuta Honda and Akiko Ueda for the discussion during the course of this study. This work was supported in part by the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture under Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (No. 15H03983).
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Suzuki, A., Yoshida, K. & Sano, N. Self-consistent device simulation of a-Si p–i–n solar cells and energy resolution analyses of capture and emission processes. J Comput Electron 15, 1554–1562 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10825-016-0915-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10825-016-0915-1