Semi-Analytical Simulation and Optimization of AlGaAs/GaAs p-i-n Quantum Well Solar Cell

Abstract

This paper deals with a AlGaAs/GaAs p-i-n quantum well solar cell. The doped region are based on AlGaAs semiconductor while the intrinsic region “I” contain multi quantum well (MQW) system AlGaAs/GaAs. A semi-analytical model in the intrinsic region and numerical drift-diffusion model in doped regions are combined to extract the total current density of the cell versus voltage. The current-voltage (J-V) characteristics are generated for the AM1.5 solar spectrum. The effect of the Aluminum molar fraction x (Al_xGa_1–xAs), the number, the width, the depth of the wells and barriers in the “i” layer and the doping densities on the electrical outputs of the solar cell are also presented. The optimized solar cell reached a conversion efficiency of 28.72% with a short circuit current density of 36.9 mA/cm² and an open circuit voltage of 0.97 V.