Abstract
In this work, the effects of Al x Ga1– x As cap and passivation (such as SiO2, Si3N4, and HfO2) layers on the performance of InGaAs/GaAs-based quantum dot intermediate band solar cells (QDIBSCs) have been studied. The low surface recombination rate of ~103 per cm3s is achieved by optimizing the composition, $x =0.40$ , and thickness (200 nm) of the Al x Ga1– x As cap layer. The optical reflectance is also evaluated for devices with different passivation. The solar cell with Si3N4 shows the lowest reflectance of 10.53%. The photogeneration rate has been enhanced at the quantum dot region because of the improvement of the photocurrent provides by both cap and passivation layers. There is also an increment found in the average external quantum efficiency of 39.56% as compared to that of the bared conventional QDIBSC. As a result, the solar cell, with both Al0.40Ga0.60As cap and Si3N4 passivation layers, shows the conversion efficiency of 27.8%, which is higher than that of 21.6% for conventional In0.53Ga0.47AS/GaAs-based QDIBSC. These results indicate that GaAs-based QDIBSCs with both Al0.40Ga0.60As cap and Si3N4 passivation layers are promising for next-generation photovoltaic applications.
Highlights
Photovoltaic (PV) energy becomes more famous for the generation of inexhaustible and renewable electricity leads to help in less the greenhouse effect and contributes to sustainable development
In our previous study [12, 13], we focused on only the characteristics of electron wave function with respect to dot-to-dot spacing (S = Sx = Sy = Sz along with the coordinate axes) and size of quantum dot (QD) (L = Lx = Ly = Lz) for In0.53Ga0.47As/GaAs-based quantum dot intermediate band solar cells (QDIBSCs) [12]
The reflection spectra of devices A, C1, C2, and C3 represent (Fig. 11) in the spectral region of 300-1200 nm. These results indicate that the optical reflection losses of the QDIBSC structure reduce because of the passivation layer
Summary
Photovoltaic (PV) energy becomes more famous for the generation of inexhaustible and renewable electricity leads to help in less the greenhouse effect and contributes to sustainable development. There are many losses have been incorporated with the degradation of efficiency in QDIBSC Both the nonradiative recombination and reflection of photogenerated charge carriers on the cells' inevitable surfaces are the leading causes of the degradation. Bhattacharya et al reported the incorporation of front and back surface passivation layers to diminish recombination losses induced by lateral current flow with the 31% power conversion efficiency of Si-based solar cell [4]. Glunz et al reported that SiO2 passivation layer played an essential role in Si-based solar cells with the efficiency >20% because of its electrical properties which reduce the surface recombination loss [15]. AlGaAs/GaAs based QDIBSC have studied in a schematic approach to understanding the effects of both cap and passivation layers on the cell performance.
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