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Photodetectors and Solar Cells

Photodetectors are semiconductor devices that electrically detect optical signals. At its operating wavelength, the photodetector should have high sensitivity, high response speed, minimum noise, small size, low voltage, and high reliability under operating conditions. Solar cells are used to generate power from the sunlight and have some similarities with photodetectors. The main differences between them are device area, operating frequency, and optical source.

Specifically, we cover the following topics:

  • Absorption of photons to create electron-hole pairs for photodetectors.
  • Structures of some ...

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