Current voltage characteristics of a metallic structure for a hot-carrier photovoltaic cell

We demonstrate a solar cell based on a thin layer of metal directly deposited on an n-doped semiconductor structure, forming a Schottky barrier acting as a semi-selective contact for an electron temperature driven cell. Absorption of light is shown to be by free carrier absorption in the metal layer for illumination with wavelengths of light below the semiconductor band gap, giving rise to an IV characteristic with a reverse bias slope dependent on electron temperature. Illumination with light in excess of the band gap reveals a standard Schottky cell IV characteristic.