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The LDS Solar Cell— A New Approach to Higher Efficiency

  • Conference paper
Tenth E.C. Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference

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Abstract

We have studied the forward bias behaviour of AlGaAs/GaAs p-i-n Multi-Quantum-Well (MQW) photodiodes. In samples with low background impurity levels in the intrinsic region the high quantum efficiency observed in reverse bias is maintained into forward bias even for carriers photo-excited in the wells. We compare our MQW devices with structures which are identical apart from having AlGaAs intrinsic regions without quantum wells. The short-circuit currents in the MQW structures are much higher than in the control samples though the open-circuit voltages are somewhat smaller. In one case the energy conversion efficiency of the MQW device in white light is 110% higher than the control. We discuss the implications of our results for the development of Low-Dimensional Structure (LDS) solar cells.

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, London, SW7 2BZ, UK

    K. W. J. Barnham, B. Braun, J. Nelson & M. Paxman

  2. SERC III–V Facility, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, Sl 3JD, UK

    C. Button & J. S. Roberts

Authors
  1. K. W. J. Barnham
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  2. B. Braun
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  3. J. Nelson
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  4. M. Paxman
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  5. C. Button
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  6. J. S. Roberts
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Politécnica, Madrid, Spain

    A. Luque  & G. Sala  & 

  2. Commission of the European Communities, Brussels, Belgium

    W. Palz

  3. Secretaria de Estado da Energia, Lisbon, Portugal

    G. Dos Santos

  4. WIP, Munich, F.R. Germany

    P. Helm

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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Barnham, K.W.J., Braun, B., Nelson, J., Paxman, M., Button, C., Roberts, J.S. (1991). The LDS Solar Cell— A New Approach to Higher Efficiency. In: Luque, A., Sala, G., Palz, W., Dos Santos, G., Helm, P. (eds) Tenth E.C. Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3622-8_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3622-8_27

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5607-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-3622-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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