Abstract
An innovative solar cell based on a nanowire/quantum dot hybrid nanostructure array is designed and analyzed. By growing multilayer InAs quantum dots on the sidewalls of GaAs nanowires, not only the absorption spectrum of GaAs nanowires is extended by quantum dots but also the light absorption of quantum dots is dramatically enhanced due to the light-trapping effect of the nanowire array. By incorporating five layers of InAs quantum dots into a 500-nm high-GaAs nanowire array, the power conversion efficiency enhancement induced by the quantum dots is six times higher than the power conversion efficiency enhancement in thin-film solar cells which contain the same amount of quantum dots, indicating that the nanowire array structure can benefit the photovoltaic performance of quantum dot solar cells.
Highlights
The incorporation of quantum dots (QDs) into solar cells has been proposed as a promising way to enhance the device conversion efficiency [1, 2]
While in the wavelength range below the GaAs bandgap, as GaAs NWs contribute little to light absorption, the absorption enhancement induced by QD layers becomes more prominent as the NW length increases
In summary, we have studied the photovoltaic performance of a GaAs/InAs NW/QD hybrid solar cell
Summary
The incorporation of quantum dots (QDs) into solar cells has been proposed as a promising way to enhance the device conversion efficiency [1, 2]. Insertion of QDs into the active region of a solar cell allows one to engineer the effective bandgap of the material and extend the absorption spectrum [3,4,5,6]. To surpass the efficiency of conventional devices, the absorption enhancement caused by QDs must be improved significantly. This may be achieved by increasing the number of QDs, by enhancing the optical absorption, or a combination of both [14]. Multilayer QDs can be grown on the sidewalls of NWs, which substantially increase the number of QDs, while the
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