Dark curve analysis of thin-film GaAs solar cells, with a focus on photon recycling approaches

Multiple studies have been recently conducted towards increasing photon recycling in thin-film GaAs solar cells. It has been established that the photon recycling probability increases with the rear mirror reflectance and solar cell thickness, which results in the increase of the devices open circuit voltage. However, perimeter and interface recombination have been shown to hinder the internal radiative efficiency of the solar cells, preventing further increase of the devices' performance as a result of improvements to the rear mirror reflectivity. In this study, we present an in-depth analysis of the effects that interface recombination has on the device performance, focused on the solar cells dark characteristics. In order to fully exploit the significant benefit of an increased photon recycling probability to the solar cell performance, these limiting mechanisms need to be properly addressed.