Intermediate band solar cells: Recent progress and future directions

Articles you may be interested in Proposal of high efficiency solar cells with closely stacked InAs/In0.48Ga0.52P quantum dot superlattices: Analysis of polarized absorption characteristics via intermediate–band Appl. Optimization of growth conditions of type-II Zn(Cd)Te/ZnCdSe submonolayer quantum dot superlattices for intermediate band solar cells Influence of wetting layers and quantum dot size distribution on intermediate band formation in InAs/GaAs superlattices J. Extensive literature and publications on intermediate band solar cells (IBSCs) are reviewed. A detailed discussion is given on the thermodynamics of solar energy conversion in IBSCs, the device physics, and the carrier dynamics processes with a particular emphasis on the two-step inter-subband absorption/recombination processes that are of paramount importance in a successful implementation high-efficiency IBSC. The experimental solar cell performance is further discussed, which has been recently demonstrated by using highly mismatched alloys and high-density quantum dot arrays and superlattice. IBSCs having widely different structures, materials, and spectral responses are also covered, as is the optimization of device parameters to achieve maximum performance.