Currents of solar cell explained by pinned charge density waves

Abstract

We present a mechanism that explains currents in solar cells using charge density wave (CDW) concepts. We treated pinned CDWs as being equivalent to moving CDWs that have been confined within a typical quantum well, using the many different examples where pinning occurs at the barrier. The currents in the solar cells are not described in terms of the unique semiconductor difference between electrons and holes, but are instead explained by making use of pinned CDWs in terms of the electrons contained therein, with a potential barrier that is lower than the energy gap in the solar cell material. The mechanism of the function of the solar cell is thus herein ascribed to the transport of pinned CDWs. The functions of solar cells are indispensable with impurities in the case of our CDW model different from conventional explanation. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.