GaAsSb-capped InAs QD type-II solar cell structures — improvement by composition profiling of layers surrounding QD

Type-II band alignment offers several advantages for proposed intermediate band solar cell structures. We focused on the quantum dot (QD) solar cell structures based on type-II InAs/GaAs QD layers capped with GaAsSb strain reducing layers. The GaAsSb strain reducing layers were prepared with or without graded Sb concentration. Strong enhancement of photocurrent was achieved by adding an InGaAs buffer layer under the type-II QD structure, thanks to improved electron extraction from QDs. For comparison, a structure with GaAs-capped InAs QDs was prepared, too. Properties of all structures are compared and the mechanism of carrier extraction or relaxation is discussed. Gradient of antimony concentration in a strain reducing layer (SRL) significantly improved resulting properties of solar cell structures. It is shown that in a multiple-QD structure with a GaAsSb SRL, electrons and holes have non-intersecting trajectories which prevents carrier recombination and improves the efficiency of solar cell structures. NextNano band structure calculations of different types of structures support our experimental results.