Publications Details
A theoretical investigation of effective surface recombination velocity in AlGaAs/GaAs heteroface solar cells
An AlGaAs window layer is used in high-efficiency GaAs solar cells to reduce carrier recombination at the front surface. Free surfaces of III-V semiconductors have a high density of surface states that serve as recombination sites and create a depletion region at the front surface. We have performed a theoretical investigation of front-surface recombination that includes the effect of a surface space-charge layer. It was found that the surface space-charge layer can have a profound effect on front-surface recombination for thin or lightly doped window layers. 15 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.