Optical simulations and optimization of highly efficient GaAs based quantum dot solar cell

Abstract

Simulation of gallium arsenide-based Cu/TiO2/GaAs/CdTe/Pt quantum dot solar cell using Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator-1D (SCAPS-1D) version 3.3.09 has been presented in this article. For the electron transport layer and hole transport layer the tin oxide and cadmium telluride layers are utilized respectively, with copper and platinum as the front and back contact. In this work, we optimized the electron transport layer and absorber layer by varying their thickness, defect density and donor concentration. The result shows that the optimization of the electron transport layer along with the absorber layer boosts the efficiency significantly. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of a quantum dot solar cell is 26.01% with fill factor (FF) of 88.85%, open circuit voltage (Voc) of 1.08 V, short circuit current density (Jsc) of 26.88 mA/cm2 at an absorber thickness of 1600 nm with donor, and defect density of 1 × 1017 cm −3 and 1 × 1014 cm−3, respectively.