Hot Carrier Transportation Dynamics in InAs/GaAs Quantum Dot Solar Cell

TL;DR

This study investigates hot carrier dynamics in InAs/GaAs quantum dot solar cells using advanced models, revealing new insights into energy conservation and potential improvements in device efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces an innovative link between detailed balance and hydrodynamic models, offering a new approach to enhance hot carrier solar cell performance.

Findings

Increasing hot carrier energy relaxation time boosts open circuit voltage.

Spatial hot carrier temperature distribution affects device efficiency.

Recombination processes significantly influence hot carrier dynamics.

Abstract

The hot carrier dynamics and its effect on the device performance of GaAs solar cell and InAs/GaAs quantum dot solar cell (QDSC) was investigated. At first, the fundamental operation feature of conventional hot carrier solar cell was simulated based on the detailed balance thermodynamic model. Then we investigated the hot carrier dynamics in the normal junction based solar cell using hydrodynamic/energy Boltzmann transportation model (HETM) where the two temperature (carrier temperature and lattice temperature are treated separately. For the first time, we report an inherent quasi-equivalence between the detailed balance model and HETM model. The inter-link revealed here addresses the energy conservation law used in the detailed balance model from different angle and it paves a way toward an alternative approach to curtail the selective contact constraints used in the conventional hot carrier solar cell. In simulation, a specially designed InAs/GaAs quantum dot solar cell was used in the simulation. By varying the hot carrier energy relaxation time , an increase in the open circuit voltage was clearly found with the increase of . Detailed analysis was presented regarding the spatial distribution of hot carrier temperature and its interplay with electric field and three hot carrier recombination processes (Auger, SRH and radiative)