In this section
@article{Kaienburg:2020:10.1103/physrevresearch.2.023109,
author = {Kaienburg, P and Krückemeier, L and Lübke, D and Nelson, J and Rau, U and Kirchartz, T},
doi = {10.1103/physrevresearch.2.023109},
journal = {Physical Review Research},
pages = {023109 1--023109 15},
title = {How solar cell efficiency is governed by the αμτ product},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.2.023109},
volume = {2},
year = {2020}
}
TY - JOUR
AB - The interplay of light absorption, charge-carrier transport, and charge-carrier recombination determines the performance of a photovoltaic absorber material. Here we analyze the influence on the solar-cell efficiency of the absorber material properties absorption coefficient α, charge-carrier mobility μ, and charge-carrier lifetime τ, for different scenarios. We combine analytical calculations with numerical drift-diffusion simulations to understand the relative importance of these three quantities. Whenever charge collection is a limiting factor, the αμτ product is a good figure of merit (FOM) to predict solar-cell efficiency, while for sufficiently high mobilities, the relevant FOM is reduced to the ατ product. We find no fundamental difference between simulations based on monomolecular or bimolecular recombination, but strong surface-recombination affects the maximum efficiency in the high-mobility limit. In the limiting case of high μ and high surface-recombination velocity S, the α/S ratio is the relevant FOM. Subsequently, we apply our findings to organic solar cells which tend to suffer from inefficient charge-carrier collection and whose absorptivity is influenced by interference effects. We estimate that a modest increase in absorption strength by a factor of 1.5 leads to a relative efficiency increase of more than 10% for state-of-the-art organic solar cells.
AU - Kaienburg,P
AU - Krückemeier,L
AU - Lübke,D
AU - Nelson,J
AU - Rau,U
AU - Kirchartz,T
DO - 10.1103/physrevresearch.2.023109
EP - 1
PY - 2020///
SN - 2643-1564
SP - 023109
TI - How solar cell efficiency is governed by the αμτ product
T2 - Physical Review Research
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.2.023109
UR - https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.023109
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/85406
VL - 2
ER -
Jenny Nelson
Professor of Physics
1007, Huxley Building
South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ