Lifetimes of minority carriers in semiconductors are very important parameters for devices, especially for solar cells.
For germanium and silicon, it was discovered that the actually measured lifetimes were by orders of magnitude smaller
than the theoretical limit, which can be deduced from the principle of detailed balance of black-body radiative
absorption and emission. The thermodynamic limit of solar cell efficiency was also derived based on this principle. The
development of solar cells with silicon and its non-ideal junction behavior are reviewed. The contemporary suggested
trends to overcome this detailed balance limit are being discussed.
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