Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
Phys Rev Lett. 2010 May 21;104(20):207701. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.207701.
The fundamental limit to photovoltaic efficiency is widely thought to be radiative recombination which balances radiative absorption. We here show that it is possible to break detailed balance via quantum coherence, as in the case of lasing without inversion and the photo-Carnot quantum heat engine. This yields, in principle, a quantum limit to photovoltaic operation which can exceed the classical one. The present work is in complete accord with the laws of thermodynamics.
普遍认为，光伏效率的基本限制因素是辐射复合，它与辐射吸收相平衡。在这里，我们表明，通过量子相干，可以打破详细平衡，就像无反转激射和光卡诺量子热机的情况一样。这在原则上产生了一个超越经典极限的光伏操作的量子极限。目前的工作与热力学定律完全一致。
