Effect of spacer layer thickness on multi-stacked InGaAs quantum dots grown on GaAs (311)B substrate for application to intermediate band solar cells

摘要

We have investigated the properties of multi-stacked layers of self-organized In0.4Ga0.6As quantum dots (QDs) on GaAs (311)B grown by molecular beam epitaxy. We found that a high degree of in-plane ordering of QDs structure with a six-fold symmetry was maintained though the growth has been performed at a higher growth rate than the conventional conditions. The dependence of photoluminescence characteristics on spacer layer thickness showed an increasing degree of electronic coupling between the stacked QDs for thinner spacer layers. The external quantum efficiency for an InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot solar cell (QDSC) with a thin spacer layer thickness increased in the longer wavelength range due to additive contribution from QD layers inserted in the intrinsic region. Furthermore, a photocurrent production by 2-step photon absorption has been observed at room temperature for the InGaAs/GaAs QDSC with a spacer layer thickness of 15 nm.