Studies of the photocurrent in quantum dot solar cells by the application of a new theoretical model

This paper describes the generation-recombination processes taking place in the active region of p-i-n structure with embedded quantum dots (QDs). The photocurrent is found by solving self-consistently the continuity equation in inter-layers taking into account the existence of QDs through the effective surface recombination rate. It is shown that there is an optimal number of stacked QD layers to be incorporated in the i-region in order to produce the maximum photocurrent. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.