https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-021-00072-6
Regular Article
Quantum dot and quantum well solar energy converters
1
Texas A&M University, 77843, College Station, TX, USA
2
Baylor University, 76798, Waco, TX, USA
3
Princeton University, 08544, Princeton, NJ, USA
Received:
28
April
2020
Accepted:
5
January
2021
Published online:
8
April
2021
We review designs of a solar cell constructed from pn junctions, quantum dots and quantum wells. In the first instance we show that quantum wells of varying size embedded in the depletion region yields spatial variation of the energy gap that can be controlled. An advantage of the proposed structure is efficient utilization of the broad solar spectrum, lessening of lattice matching problems and generation of electron-hole pairs in narrow depletion regions which yields fast spatial separation of charges and, thus, reduces recombination losses. In another model we show how quantum coherence can be used, in principle, to eliminate radiative recombination and increase photocell power.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021
