Band Gap
Band Gap
Band Gap
overlap.
In semiconductor physics
The term "band gap" refers to the energy difference between the
top of the valence band and the bottom of the conduction band.
a photon (light).
the valence and conduction bands may overlap, so they may not
solar cells.
informal classification.
structure
Photovoltaic cells
commercial solar cells have band gaps near the peak of this
The optical band gap (see below) determines what portion of the
will not absorb photons of energy less than the band gap; and
above the band gap to photon energies closer to the band gap of
Below are band gap values for some selected materials. For a
semiconductor materials.
IV Diamond C 5.5
IV Silicon Si 1.14
IV Germanium Ge 0.67
and holes (very small exciton binding energy), and therefore the