Limiting performance analysis of cascaded interband/intersubband thermophotovoltaic devices

This work addresses the question of how much electrical power can in principle be extracted from heat radiation via the combined use of interband and intersubband photodetection as a way to overcome the fundamental limitations of existing thermophotovoltaic devices using mature InP-based technology. Very efficient coverage of the incident radiation spectrum and optimal current matching can be achieved using multiple quantum-cascade structures monolithically integrated with a p-n junction by taking advantage of their intrinsic cascading scheme, spectral agility, and design flexibility. Numerical simulations indicate that this approach can effectively double the present state-of-the-art in thermophotovoltaic output electrical power. (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3548672]