Title :
Many-body theory applied to solar cells: excitonic and related carrier correlation effects
Author :
Green, Martin A.
Author_Institution :
Photovoltaics Special REs. Centre, Univ. of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
fDate :
29 Sep-3 Oct 1997
Abstract :
The independent electron theory of semiconductors was developed in the early 1930s, with the modern theory of semiconductor devices established over the subsequent decades. Increasingly comprehensive device simulators, improvements in material properties and the evolution in device design are starting to thoroughly test this theory. The present paper discusses many body effects in solar cells including room temperature excitons and other correlation effects together with their consequences. It is shown that, at moderate to high doping levels, excitonic and other correlated carriers can approach uncorrelated minority carrier concentrations, casting doubts over the adequacy of existing theory based solely on minority carrier flows to satisfactorily model effects such as back surface fields and built-in fields in solar cell emitters
Keywords :
carrier density; excitons; many-body problems; minority carriers; semiconductor device models; semiconductor device testing; semiconductor doping; solar cells; back surface fields; built-in fields; carrier correlation effects; device design; doping levels; many-body theory; material properties; minority carrier concentrations; room temperature excitons; semiconductor device simulators; solar cell emitters; solar cells; Casting; Doping; Electrons; Excitons; Material properties; Materials testing; Photovoltaic cells; Semiconductor devices; Semiconductor process modeling; Temperature;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1997., Conference Record of the Twenty-Sixth IEEE
Conference_Location :
Anaheim, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-3767-0
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.1997.653922