Abstract
We studied time-resolved photocarrier transport through InAs/GaAs quantum dot superlattice (QDSL) solar cells (SCs) using time-of-flight spectroscopy with an optical probe QD structure beneath the QDSL. Carriers optically pumped in the top -GaAs layer were transported through the intrinsic layer, including the QDSLs, before arriving at the probe QDs. The photoexcited carrier density significantly influenced the time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) of the QDSLs and probe QDs. The time-resolved PL profile of the probe QDs indicated that excitation densities in excess of drastically decreased the rise time, suggesting rapid carrier transport through the QDSLs. This was also confirmed by QDSL carrier transport dynamics, for which the PL intensity of the excited states decayed rapidly above this excitation power density, , while the ground state remained constant. These results demonstrate that filling the ground states of QDSLs and starting to populate the excited state miniband accelerates carrier transport in QDSL SCs. Furthermore, according to two-step photon absorption measurements taken with a 1.3-μm infrared laser light source, electrons play a key role in the generation of extra photocurrent by sub-band-gap photon irradiation.
3 More- Received 18 February 2016
- Revised 8 November 2016
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.195313
©2016 American Physical Society