High Efficient Solar Cell Based on Heterostructure Constructed by Graphene and GaAs Quantum Wells

Despite the fascinating optoelectronic properties of graphene, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of graphene based solar cells remains to be lifted up. Herein, it is experimentally shown that the graphene/quantum wells/GaAs heterostructure solar cell can reach a PCE of 20.2% and an open-circuit voltage (V_oc ) as high as 1.16 V at 90 K. The high efficiency is a result of carrier multiplication (CM) effect of graphene in the graphene/GaAs heterostructure. Especially, the external quantum efficiency (EQE) in the ultraviolet wavelength can be improved up to 72.2% based on the heterostructure constructed by graphene/In_0.15 Ga_0.85 As/GaAs_0.75 P_0.25 quantum wells/GaAs. The EQE increases as the light wavelength decreases, which indicates more carriers can be effectively excited by the higher energy photons through CM effect. Owing to these physical characters, the graphene/GaAs heterostructure solar cell will provide a possible way to exceed Shockley-Queisser (S-Q) limit.