The Effect of Charge Transport Mechanisms on the Efficiency of AlxGa1 – xAs/GaAs Photodiodes

Abstract

Photovoltaic characteristics of heterostructure Al_xGa_{1 – x}As/GaAs p–i–n photodiodes fabricated by molecular-beam epitaxy have been studied. Efficiencies of 50% were reached in conversion of monochromatic light in the photovoltaic mode at power density of up to 200 W/cm² at a wavelength λ = 830 nm. A relationship was demonstrated between the “saturation currents” for the diffusion-related charge-transport mechanism (Shockley) in p–i–n photodiodes, calculated from dark current–voltage characteristics, and the experimental values of efficiency. As the “saturation current” of the diffusion-related charge-transport mechanism increases by an order of magnitude, a relative decrease in the efficiency from the maximum value by more than 10% is observed under excitation by constant or pulsed monochromatic light.