Theoretical investigation of the efficiency of drift-field solar cells

The short-circuit current of the base layer of a drift-field solar cell is calculated, using better approximations for the electric field and for the mobility variation than used by previous authors [2],[3]. The discrepancies between the results of Kaye and Rolik [2] and of Bullis and Runyan [3] are explained. We come to the conclusion that the advantage of a drift-field solar cell is mainly determined by the layer closest to the junction. To obtain a high collection efficiency, the impurity concentration close to the junction must be small and the impurity concentration ratio between back and front of the drift-field layer must be large.