Effect of Temperature on Current Through Various Recombination Channels in GaAs Solar Cells with GalnAs Quantum Dots

Abstract

The influence of reducing carrier of thermal escape rate with temperature decreasing in various channels on the dark saturation current of a GaAs p–n junction with Ga_0.8In_0.2As quantum dots has been investigated. The dark saturation current has been calculated for temperatures ranging from 20 to 325 K. The calculation was based on the previously discovered current invariant, which determines the dependence of the saturation current on temperature and bandgap energy. The rates of recombination in various channels and their bandgaps were determined by photoluminescence spectra analysis. For various channels, characteristic temperatures were determined, below which thermal escape rate of carriers is practically absent. The saturation current calculation showed that, despite the change in the rate of recombination in different channels, it is determined only by the recombination in the channel with lower bandgap energy.