The semiconductor ZnO has gained substantial interest in the research community in part because of its large exciton binding energy (60meV) which could lead to lasing action based on exciton recombination even above room temperature. Even though research focusing on ZnO goes back many decades, the renewed interest is fueled by availability of high-quality substrates and reports of p-type conduction and ferromagnetic behavior when doped with transitions metals, both of which remain controversial. It is this renewed interest in ZnO which forms the basis of this review. As mentioned already, ZnO is not new to the semiconductor field, with studies of its lattice parameter dating back to 1935 by Bunn [Proc. Phys. Soc. London 47, 836 (1935)], studies of its vibrational properties with Raman scattering in 1966 by Damen et al. [Phys. Rev. 142, 570 (1966)], detailed optical studies in 1954 by Mollwo [Z. Angew. Phys. 6, 257 (1954)], and its growth by chemical-vapor transport in 1970 by Galli and Coker [Appl. Phys. ...

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A comprehensive review of zno materials and devices

Energy harvested directly from sunlight offers a desirable approach toward fulfilling, with minimal environmental impact, the need for clean energy. Solar energy is a decentralized and inexhaustible natural resource, with the magnitude of the available solar power striking the earth’s surface at any one instant equal to 130 million 500 MW power plants.1 However, several important goals need to be met to fully utilize solar energy for the global energy demand. First, the means for solar energy conversion, storage, and distribution should be environmentally benign, i.e. protecting ecosystems instead of steadily weakening them. The next important goal is to provide a stable, constant energy flux. Due to the daily and seasonal variability in renewable energy sources such as sunlight, energy harvested from the sun needs to be efficiently converted into chemical fuel that can be stored, transported, and used upon demand. The biggest challenge is whether or not these goals can be met in a costeffective way on the terawatt scale.2

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/cr1002326

Solar Water Splitting Cells

By applying the specific fabrication conditions summarized in the Experimental section and post-production annealing at 150 °C, polymer solar cells with power-conversion efficiency approaching 5 % are demonstrated. These devices exhibit remarkable thermal stability. We attribute the improved performance to changes in the bulk heterojunction material induced by thermal annealing. The improved nanoscale morphology, the increased crystallinity of the semiconducting polymer, and the improved contact to the electron-collecting electrode facilitate charge generation, charge transport to, and charge collection at the electrodes, thereby enhancing the device efficiency by lowering the series resistance of the polymer solar cells.

Thermally stable, efficient polymer solar cells with nanoscale control of the interpenetrating network morphology

Long, balanced electron and hole diffusion lengths greater than 100 nanometers in the polycrystalline organolead trihalide compound CH3NH3PbI3 are critical for highly efficient perovskite solar cells. We found that the diffusion lengths in CH3NH3PbI3 single crystals grown by a solution-growth method can exceed 175 micrometers under 1 sun (100 mW cm(-2)) illumination and exceed 3 millimeters under weak light for both electrons and holes. The internal quantum efficiencies approach 100% in 3-millimeter-thick single-crystal perovskite solar cells under weak light. These long diffusion lengths result from greater carrier mobility, longer lifetime, and much smaller trap densities in the single crystals than in polycrystalline thin films. The long carrier diffusion lengths enabled the use of CH3NH3PbI3 in radiation sensing and energy harvesting through the gammavoltaic effect, with an efficiency of 3.9% measured with an intense cesium-137 source.

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Electron-hole diffusion lengths > 175 μm in solution-grown CH3NH3PbI3 single crystals

This paper proposes a method of modeling and simulation of photovoltaic arrays. The main objective is to find the parameters of the nonlinear I-V equation by adjusting the curve at three points: open circuit, maximum power, and short circuit. Given these three points, which are provided by all commercial array data sheets, the method finds the best I-V equation for the single-diode photovoltaic (PV) model including the effect of the series and parallel resistances, and warranties that the maximum power of the model matches with the maximum power of the real array. With the parameters of the adjusted I-V equation, one can build a PV circuit model with any circuit simulator by using basic math blocks. The modeling method and the proposed circuit model are useful for power electronics designers who need a simple, fast, accurate, and easy-to-use modeling method for using in simulations of PV systems. In the first pages, the reader will find a tutorial on PV devices and will understand the parameters that compose the single-diode PV model. The modeling method is then introduced and presented in details. The model is validated with experimental data of commercial PV arrays.

Comprehensive Approach to Modeling and Simulation of Photovoltaic Arrays

Photoconductivity of solids

This text is addressed to upper level graduate students with background in solid state physics and to scientists and engineers involved in solar cell research. The author aims to present fundamental physical principles rather than the state-of-the-art. Specific devices are used to illustrate basic phenomena and to indicate possibilities for innovative design. Contents, abridged: Solar insolation. The calculation of solar efficiency. Silicon solar cells. Heterojunction and heteroface structure cells. Polycrystalline thin films for solar cells. Concentrators, concentrator systems, and photoelectrochemical cells.

Fundamentals of solar cells

Trap depths and densities can be determined from the analysis of the dependence of space‐charge‐limited currents on applied electric field in insulators. Values obtained from space‐charge‐limited current measurements are compared with those obtained from thermally stimulated currents and from photocurrent decay on the same crystal of cadmium sulfide. The results indicate that gross errors in trap depth and density can be made if it is simply assumed that the rapid rise in current toward the trap‐free curve with increasing applied voltage always occurs when the traps are filled. Although this may sometimes be true, it is also possible for such a rapid rise to result from field ionization of the traps, or even in certain cases from the onset of double injection. Even if the latter effects occur, however, proper analysis of the space‐charge‐limited current data permits an evaluation of trap depth and density which is completely consistent with independent measurements of thermally stimulated current and photocurrent decay.

Trap Density Determination by Space‐Charge‐Limited Currents

1. Introductory concepts 2. Photoconductivity 3. One-center recombination models 4. The Shockley-Read one-center model 5. Two-center recombination effects 6. Recombination mechanisms 7. Steady-state photoelectronic analysis 8. Transient photoelectronic analysis 9. Photoeffects at grain boundaries 10. Amorphous semiconductors 11. Photovoltaic effects 12. Quantum wells and superlattices Bibliography Index.

Richard H. Bube

Papers

Photoconductivity of solids

Fundamentals of solar cells

Trap Density Determination by Space‐Charge‐Limited Currents

Photoelectronic Properties of Semiconductors

Fundamentals of Solar Cells: Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion