Development and Analysis of Graphene-Sheet-Based GaAs Schottky Solar Cell for Enriched Efficiency

Micromachines (Basel). 2023 Jun 10;14(6):1226. doi: 10.3390/mi14061226.

Abstract

Comparative studies of the 2D numerical modelling and simulation of graphene-based gallium arsenide and silicon Schottky junction solar cell are studied using TCAD tools. The performance of photovoltaic cells was examined while taking parameters, such as substrate thickness, relationship between transmittance and work function of graphene, and n-type doing concentration of substrate semiconduction. The area with the highest efficiency for photogenerated carriers was found to be located near the interface region under light illumination. The significant enhancement of power conversion efficiency was shown in the cell with a thicker carrier absorption Si substrate layer, larger graphene work function, and average doping in a silicon substrate. Thus, for improved cell structure, the maximum JSC = 4.7 mA/cm2, VOC = 0.19 V, and fill factor = 59.73% are found under AM1.5G, exhibiting maximum efficiency of 6.5% (1 sun). The EQE of the cell is well above 60%. This work reports the influence of different substrate thickness, work function, and N-type doping on the efficiency and characteristics of graphene-based Schottky solar cells.

Keywords: Schottky barrier solar cell (SBSC); TCAD; external quantum efficiency; graphene; power conversion efficiency.

Grants and funding

This work is partially supported by DST/TDT/DDP-38/2021, Device Development Programme (DDP), by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India.