Abstract
Photonic devices play an important role in a wide variety of applications in the areas of photovoltaic (PV) power generation, optical communications, data transmission and signal processing, detection, sensors and optical imaging, and displays and light sources. Recent advances in III-IV compound semiconductor growth and processing technologies have enabled these applications to become a reality. As a result, various photonic devices such as laser diodes (LDs), light-emitting diodes (LEDs), solar cells, and photodetectors using III-V semiconductors have been developed for use in power generation, optical communications, displays and solidstate light sources, data transmission, and signal processing. Depending on the device structures and operating modes, photonic devices can in general be divided into three categories: (i) PV devices (i.e., solar cells), which convert sunlight directly into electricity by generating electron–hole pairs in a solar cell via internal PV effect, (ii) photodetectors, which detect photons or optical signals and convert them into electrical signals via internal photoelectric effects, and (iii) LEDs and LDs, which convert electrical energy into incoherent (for LEDs) and coherent (for LDs) optical radiation by electrical injection into the junction region of a p-n junction diode. In this chapter, the basic device physics and structures, the operation principles, and the general characterstics of solar cells and photodetectors fabricated from elemental and compound semiconductors will be depicted.
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Li, S.S. (2006). Solar Cells and Photodetectors. In: Li, S.S. (eds) Semiconductor Physical Electronics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-37766-2_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-37766-2_12
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