Yin Jian, Paiella Roberto
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Photonics Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Opt Express. 2010 Jan 18;18(2):1618-29. doi: 10.1364/OE.18.001618.
The use of intersubband transitions in quantum cascade structures for thermophotovoltaic energy conversion is investigated numerically. The intrinsic cascading scheme, spectral agility, and design flexibility of these structures make them ideally suited to the development of high efficiency multiple-junction thermophotovoltaic detectors. A specific implementation of this device concept is designed, based on bound-to-continuum intersubband transitions in large-conduction-band-offset In(0.7)Ga(0.3)As/AlAs(0.8)Sb(0.2) quantum wells. The device electrical characteristics in the presence of thermal radiation from a blackbody source at 1300 K are calculated, from which a maximum extracted power density of 1.4 W/cm(2) is determined. This value compares favorably with the present state-of-the-art in interband thermophotovoltaic energy conversion, indicating that quantum cascade photodetectors may provide a promising approach to improve energy extraction from thermal sources.
对量子级联结构中的子带间跃迁在热光伏能量转换中的应用进行了数值研究。这些结构固有的级联方案、光谱灵活性和设计灵活性使其非常适合于高效多结热光伏探测器的开发。基于大导带偏移In(0.7)Ga(0.3)As/AlAs(0.8)Sb(0.2)量子阱中的束缚态到连续态子带间跃迁，设计了该器件概念的一种具体实施方案。计算了在1300K黑体源热辐射存在下器件的电学特性，由此确定了最大提取功率密度为1.4W/cm(2)。该值与目前带间热光伏能量转换的现有技术水平相比具有优势，表明量子级联光电探测器可能为改善从热光源提取能量提供一种有前景的方法。
