Title:	Hot Carrier Solar Cell Absorbers: Superstructures, Materials and Mechanisms for Slowed Carrier Cooling
Author(s):	G.J. Conibeer, S. Shrestha, S. Huang, R. Patterson, P. Aliberti, H. Xia, Y. Feng, Y. Liao, Y. Kamikawa, M.A. Green
Keywords:	Hot Carrier, Phonon, Klemens Decay, MQW, InN
Topic:	Material Studies, New Concepts and Ultra-High Efficiency
Subtopic:	Fundamental Material Studies
Event:	27th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition
Session:	1BO.9.1
Pages:	81 - 84
ISBN:	3-936338-28-0
Paper DOI:	10.4229/27thEUPVSEC2012-1BO.9.1
Price:	0,00 EUR
Document(s):	paper

Abstract/Summary:

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An ideal Hot Carrier cell would absorb a wide range of photon energies and extract a large fraction of the energy to give very high efficiencies, up to 65% at 1sun (85% at max concentration), by extracting ’hot’ carriers before they thermalise to the band edges. The main mechanism for thermalisation is emission of zone centre optical phonons. A non-equilibrium population of optical phonons restrict further carrier cooling. Mechanisms for increasing this “phonon bottleneck” are discussed, either in terms of confinement of phonon modes in nanostructures or in prevention of phonon decay in phononic band gap materials. Absorber properties are then and structures which combine some of these properties suggested. Progress towards absorbers is being made for implementation in real devices.