Optical field dissipation in heterostructures for nanophotovoltaic devices

Carlos Villa-Angulo; Daniel Sauceda-Carvajal; José  R. Villa-Angulo; Rafael Villa-Angulo

doi:10.1117/1.JNP.10.046001

6 October 2016 Optical field dissipation in heterostructures for nanophotovoltaic devices

Carlos Villa-Angulo, Daniel Sauceda-Carvajal, José R. Villa-Angulo, Rafael Villa-Angulo

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Nanophotonics, Vol. 10, Issue 4, 046001 (October 2016). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JNP.10.046001

Abstract

In heterostructures for nanophotovoltaic (NPV) devices, a number of layers are concatenated in a multilayer configuration. In the analysis of a multilayer configuration, it is commonly assumed that the intensity of the optical field has an exponential decrease along the direction of propagation inside the structure. Effects such as reflections and interference are neglected. These neglected effects become especially important ones once the layer dimension reaches several nanometers. At this width regimen, quantum effects are present since layers are thin compared with the penetration depth and the wavelength of the incident light. Quantum effects influence photon absorption and affect the optical field dissipation that controls electron-hole pairs generation. Hence, dissipation of the optical field inside an NPV device is an important aspect to consider in studying and determining performance properties. We employed the one-dimensional optical transfer matrix theory and the quantum well theory to analyze the optical field dissipation in the active layer of heterostructures for NPV devices. Illumination of 100 mW·cm⁻² air mass 1.5 global (AM 1.5G) standard was considered for the analysis. The study was extended to low-dimensional heterostructures of the binary compound CdS/CdSe/CdS, the ternary compound Ga_0.9Al_0.1As/GaAs/Ga_0.9Al_0.1As, and the quaternary compound In_0.85Ga_0.15As_0.30P_0.70/In_0.7Ga_0.3As_0.6P_0.4/In_0.85Ga_0.15As_0.30P_0.70.

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Carlos Villa-Angulo, Daniel Sauceda-Carvajal, José R. Villa-Angulo, and Rafael Villa-Angulo "Optical field dissipation in heterostructures for nanophotovoltaic devices," Journal of Nanophotonics 10(4), 046001 (6 October 2016). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JNP.10.046001

Published: 6 October 2016

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