MODEL OF A PLASMA PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERTER WITH A THIN TRANSITION LAYER BETWEEN ALKALI VAPORS AND BUFFER GAS

摘要

Theoretical analysis was carried out of the operating regimes of a plasma photoelectric cell that can be designed on the basis of a heat pipe filled with a mixture of alkali vapors and the buffer gas. One-dimensional (1D) model of the photoelectric converter is based on the solution of ambipolar diffusion equation with effective boundary conditions. It has been shown that creation of a sharp boundary between alkali vapors and the buffer gas inside the heat pipe results in significant enhancement of the direct conversion efficiency of optical radiation to electrical current.