The near-infrared responsivity of a silicon photodetector employing the impurity photovoltaic(IPV) effect is investigated with a numerical method. The improvement of the responsivity can reach 0.358 A/W at a wavelength of about1200 nm, and its corresponding quantum efficiency is 41.1%. The origin of the enhanced responsivity is attributed to the absorption of sub-bandgap photons, which results in the carrier transition from the impurity energy level to the conduction band. The results indicate that the IPV effect may provide a general approach to enhancing the responsivity of photodetectors.
A numerical study has been conducted to explore the role of photoemission cross sections in the impurity photovoltaic(IPV) effect for silicon solar cells doped with indium. The photovoltaic parameters(short-circuit current density, opencircuit voltage, and conversion efficiency) of the IPV solar cell were calculated as functions of variable electron and hole photoemission cross sections. The presented results show that the electron and hole photoemission cross sections play critical roles in the IPV effect. When the electron photoemission cross section is < 10-20cm^2, the conversion efficiencyη of the IPV cell always has a negative gain(?η < 0) if the IPV impurity is introduced. A large hole photoemission cross section can adversely impact IPV solar cell performance. The combination of a small hole photoemission cross section and a large electron photoemission cross section can achieve higher conversion efficiency for the IPV solar cell since a large electron photoemission cross section can enhance the necessary electron transition from the impurity level to the conduction band and a small hole photoemission cross section can reduce the needless sub-bandgap absorption. It is concluded that those impurities with small(large) hole photoemission cross section and large(small) electron photoemission cross section,whose energy levels are near the valence(or conduction) band edge, may be suitable for use in IPV solar cells. These results may help in judging whether or not an impurity is appropriate for use in IPV solar cells according to its electron and hole photoemission cross sections.
Boron-doped hydrogenated microcrystalline Germanium(μc-Ge:H) fi lms were deposited by hot-wire CVD. H2 diluted Ge H4 and B2H6 were used as precursors and the substrate temperature was kept at 300 ℃. The properties of the samples were analyzed by XRD, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and Hall Effect measurement with Van der Pauw method. It is found that the fi lms are partially crystallized, with crystalline fractions larger than 45% and grain sizes smaller than 50 nm. The B-doping can enhance the crystallization but reduce the grain sizes, and also enhance the preferential growth of Ge(220). The conductivity of the fi lms increases and tends to be saturated with increasing diborane-to-germane ratio. All the Hall mobilities of the samples are larger than 3.8 cm2·V-1·s-1. A high conductivity of 41.3 Ω-1·cm-1 is gained at =6.7%.
Using β-FeSi2 as the bottom absorber of triple-junction thin-film solar cells is investigated by a numerical method for widening the long-wave spectral response. The presented results show that the β-FeSi2 subcell can contribute 0.273 V of open-circuit voltage to the a-Si/μc-Si/β-FeSi2triple-junction thin-film solar cell. The optimized absorber thicknesses for aSi, μc-Si, and β-FeSi2 subcells are 260 nm, 900 nm, and 40 nm, respectively. In addition, the temperature coefficient of the conversion efficiency of the a-Si/μc-Si/β-FeSi2 cell is-0.308 %/K, whose absolute value is only greater than that of the a-Si subcell. This result indicates that the a-Si/μc-Si/β-FeSi2 triple-junction solar cell has a good temperature coefficient. As a result, using β-FeSi2 as the bottom absorber can improve the thin-film solar cell performance, and the a-Si/μc-Si/β-FeSi2 triple-junction solar cell is a promising structure configuration for improving the solar cell efficiency.
