Plasmonics for III-V semiconductor solar cells

Abstract

III-V semiconductors like GaAs and InGaN are very promising candidates for solar cells. While GaAs has near-ideal bandgap to reach the maximum possible efficiency limit for single junction solar cells, InGaN provides the ability to tune the bandgap of absorbing layers over a wide energy range. Since III-V semiconductors are mostly direct bandgap semiconductors, they are also very strong absorbers of light. Currently novel solar cell designs based on nanostructured absorbers like quantum dots1,2 or nanowires are under investigation to demonstrate high efficiency solar cells. Show more