In the present work we reveal the existence of the hot carrier photovoltage induced across a p–n junction in addition to the classical carrier generation-induced and thermalization-caused photovoltages. On the basis of the solution of the differential equation of the first-order linear time-invariant system, we propose a model enabling to disclose the pure value of each photovoltage component. The hot carrier photovoltage is fast since it is determined by the free carrier energy relaxation time (which is of the order of 10⁻¹² s), while the thermal one, being conditioned by the junction temperature change, is relatively slow; and both of them have a sign opposite to that of the electron-hole pair generation-induced component. Simultaneous coexistence of the components is evidenced experimentally in GaAs p–n junction exposed to pulsed 1.06 μm laser light. The work is remarkable in two ways: first, it shows that creation of conditions unfavorable for the rise of hot carrier photovoltage might improve the efficiency of a single junction solar cell, and second, it should inspire the photovoltaic society to revise the Shockley–Queisser limit by taking into account the damaging impact of the hot carrier photovoltage.

中文翻译：

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热载流子和热分量对跨p–n结的光电压形成的影响

在当前的工作中，我们揭示了除了经典的载流子产生和热引起的光电压之外，在ap-n结上感应出的热载子光电压的存在。基于一阶线性时不变系统的微分方程的解，我们提出了一个模型，可以揭示每个光电压分量的纯值。热载流子光电压很快，因为它由自由载流子能量弛豫时间决定（约为10 ^-12s）受结温变化影响的热敏电阻相对较慢；它们的符号都与电子-空穴对产生诱发分量的符号相反。在暴露于1.06μm脉冲激光的GaAs p–n结中，实验证明了这些成分的同时共存。这项工作在两个方面引人注目：首先，它表明创造不利于热载流子光电压上升的条件可能会提高单结太阳能电池的效率；其次，它应该激励光伏社会修订肖克利-奎塞尔通过考虑热载流子光电压的破坏性影响来限制电流。