Micron-sized liquid nitrogen-cooled indium antimonide photovoltaic cell for near-field thermophotovoltaics

Simulations of near-field thermophotovoltaic devices predict promising performance, but experimental observations remain challenging. Having the lowest bandgap among III-V semiconductors, indium antimonide (InSb) is an attractive choice for the photovoltaic cell, provided it is cooled to a low tempe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics express 2019-02, Vol.27 (4), p.A11-A24
Main Authors: Vaillon, Rodolphe, Pérez, Jean-Philippe, Lucchesi, Christophe, Cakiroglu, Dilek, Chapuis, Pierre-Olivier, Taliercio, Thierry, Tournié, Eric
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Electric power
Engineering Sciences
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Summary:Simulations of near-field thermophotovoltaic devices predict promising performance, but experimental observations remain challenging. Having the lowest bandgap among III-V semiconductors, indium antimonide (InSb) is an attractive choice for the photovoltaic cell, provided it is cooled to a low temperature, typically around 77 K. Here, by taking into account fabrication and operating constraints, radiation transfer and low-injection charge transport simulations are made to find the optimum architecture for the photovoltaic cell. Appropriate optical and electrical properties of indium antimonide are used. In particular, impact of the Moss-Burstein effects on the interband absorption coefficient of n-type degenerate layers, and of parasitic sub-bandgap absorption by the free carriers and phonons are accounted for. Micron-sized cells are required to minimize the huge issue of the lateral series resistance losses. The proposed methodology is presumably relevant for making realistic designs of near-field thermophotovoltaic devices based on low-bandgap III-V semiconductors.
ISSN:1094-4087
1094-4087
DOI:10.1364/OE.27.000A11