Enhanced intraband absorption in two-step photon upconversion solar cells with a double-tunnel-junction structure

Abstract

Two-step photon upconversion solar cells (TPU-SCs) belong to the class of solar cells that in principle can exceed the Shockley--Queisser limit for single-junction solar cells. A TPU-SC basically consists of a wide-gap and a narrow-gap semiconductor layer, where intraband absorption of infrared (IR) photons by electrons accumulated at the conduction-band-edge discontinuity leads to an increase in the output current and voltage. This IR-induced upconversion process enables a better utilization of the broad solar spectrum, and quantum dots (QDs) can be added to improve the intraband transition rates in actual devices. In this study, we added an n--p--n double-tunnel-junction structure to an $\mathrm{Al_{0.3}Ga_{0.7}As}$/GaAs TPU-SC including a QD layer to further enhance the contribution of intraband absorption to the output current. The double-tunnel-junction structure should suppress carrier recombination at the heterointerface and improve the extraction efficiency of electrons after intraband absorption. We performed two-color excitation experiments using IR and 784-nm light, and we particularly found that 784-nm light causes a significant amount of intraband transitions in this device. By employing rate equations, we clarify that this result demonstrates a higher intraband absorption efficiency due to the double-tunnel-junction structure. This highlights the potential of double-tunnel-junction structures for the realization of high-efficiency TPU-SCs.