Experimental analysis of GaAs-InGaAs MQW solar cells

Incorporation of multiple quantum wells (MQW) in the i-region of p-i-n solar cells has been regarded as a promising alternative to design high efficiency III-V solar cells. Although recently it has been shown that the limiting efficiency of MQW solar cells cannot exceed the limiting efficiency of single bandgap solar cells, the potential of MQW solar cells to reach this limit, should be explored. In this sense, the authors present an experimental analysis of the efficiency of GaAs-InGaAs p-i-n MQW solar cells, with fifteen 80 /spl Aring/ In/sub 0.2/Ga/sub 0.8/As quantum wells incorporated in the i-region of p-i-n GaAs cells. They show the effect of the GaAs barrier thickness on the dark current, I-V curve under illumination, spectral response and the radiative losses. Structural analyses have been performed by X-ray diffraction.