solar cell提取自- Wiley - Physics of Semiconductor Devices.pdfVIP

13.9 SOLARCELL 719 barriers forming the wells have to be small, around 0.2 eV. In order to limit the dark current, the QWIP has to be operated at low temperatures, in the range 4-77 K. The QWIP is an attractive alternative for long-wavelength photodetectors that use HgCdTe material, which has problems of excessive tunneling of dark current and reproducibility in precise composition to give the exact energy gap. It is compatible with GaAs technology and circuits for monolithic integration. The detection wave- length range is also tunable by the quantum-well thickness. Long-wavelength capa- bility close to 20 pm has been d e m ~ n s t r a t e dThe QWIP can. ~ ~ be applied in focal- plane arrays for two-dimensional imaging. Examples are thermal and terrestrial imaging. The QWIP is also known for its high-speed capability and fast response. This is due to its intrinsic short carrier lifetime in the quantum wells which is in the order of 5 ps. One difficulty with the QWIP, at least for n-type GaAs wells, is detecting normal-incidence light. This makes coupling of light to the photodetector difficult. 13.9 SOLAR CELL 13.9.1 Introduction Solar cells, at the present time, furnish the most-important long-duration power supply in small-scale terrestrial and space applications such as satellites and space vehicles. As worldwide energy demand increases, conventional energy resources such as fossil fuels, will be exhausted within the next century. Therefore, we must develop and use alternative energy resources, especially our only long-term natural resource-the sun. The solar cell is considered a major candidate for obtaining energy from the sun, since it can convert sunlight directly to electricity with high conversion efficiency (as opposed to extracting thermal energy). It can provide nearly permanent power at low operating cost, and is virtually free of pollution. Recentl