Photovoltaic Effect in GaAs p–n Junctions and Solar Energy Conversion

This chapter describes some preliminary experiments on GaAs p–n junctions used as solar energy converters and compares their operation to that predicted by the theory of the photovoltaic effect. According to the theory of solar energy conversion by means of the photovoltaic effect, GaAs (E_G = 1.35eV) is one of the materials which should potentially operate at a higher maximum efficiency, η_max, than Si, Se, CdS or any of the other semiconductors which have been used for this purpose to date. ¹ Since this work was completed, Gremmelmaier has reported similar observations. ²