A quantum-dot light-harvesting architecture using deterministic phase control

Efficient solar-energy harvesting is fundamental to solar cell technology. Much research effort has been devoted to the construction of new light-harvesting structures, including the use of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), to improve the widespread availability of solar cells. In this paper, a new light-harvesting architecture is considered, which utilizes quantum dots. The proposed architecture is composed of quantum phase-locked loops (QPLLs) to enhance the harvesting efficiency of QD solar cells by utilizing feedback control principles. The purpose of QPLL is to synchronize the phases of monochromatic light harvested by the antenna systems. This paper addresses a deterministic modeling and control formulation of the QPLL. The QPLL consists of a tracking controller and a proportional-integral (PI) controller. Simulation results for the controllers are presented and discussed.