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Title: Optimization of GaSb thermophotovoltaic diodes with metallic photonic crystal front-surface filters
Abstract— A promising technology for waste-heat recovery applications is thermophotovoltaics (TPVs), which use photovoltaic diodes to convert thermal energy into electricity. The most commonly used TPV diode material is gallium antimonide (GaSb). Recently, GaSb TPV diodes were fabricated with front-surface metallic photonic crystal (MPhC) filters to more optimally convert the incident spectrum. This method showed promising initial results, in part due to a shifting of the photogenerated carriers away from the front-surface and into the device. In this paper, we use the Atlas-Silvaco software package to optimize the TPV diode structure for MPhCs. We investigate the addition of an intrinsic region in the device to take advantage of the shifted photogeneration profile from the MPhCs. This design allows for a 10% improvement in internal quantum at the peak MPhC transmission wavelength. https://doi.org/10.1109/MWSCAS.2017.8053055  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1806311
PAR ID:
10152806
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Optimization of GaSb Thermophotovoltaic Diodes with Metallic Photonic Crystal Front-Surface Filters
Page Range / eLocation ID:
843 to 846
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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