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Recent reports in the literature indicate that the introduction of an interfacial oxide layer in a Schottky barrier can greatly increase the photovoltaic conversion efficiency of such devices. We propose an explanation for the operation of such solar cells based on the concept that they are minority-carrier nonequilibrium MIS tunnel diodes. Calculations of efficiency as a function of insulator thickness, substrate carrier concentration, surfaces states, and oxide charge are presented. These indicate that a maximum theoretical efficiency of 21% is possible under AM2 illumination for high substrate doping and low interface defect density.
Shewchun et al. (1977) studied this question.