[19p-W541-1~14] Efficiency improvement for thin film compound semiconductor solar cells in the present and future

[19p-W541-10] Factors Determining High-Efficiency Operation of Quantum Dot Intermediate Band Solar Cells

〇Yoshitaka Okada¹, Yasushi Shoji¹, Ryo Tamaki¹, Katsuhisa Yoshida¹, Tomah Sogabe¹ (1.RCAST, Univ. of Tokyo)

Keywords:quantum dot solar cells,intermediate band solar cells,two-step photon absorption

The possibility for increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic solar cells via sequential absorption of photons in a single material has been studied for a long while, but the concept gained renewed interest with the proposal of the intermediate band solar cell (IBSC) in the mid-1990s. The main challenge has been to establish an IB within a semiconductor material that supports strong optical transitions with relatively low nonradiative recombination in comparison to the rate of photo-generation by solar photons. The experimental challenges and optimization of device parameters are reviewed for IBSCs using high-density quantum dot arrays and superlattice.