G. Hill

Strain-balanced GaAsP/InGaAs quantum well solar cells

A strain-balance multiquantum well (MQW) approach to enhance the GaAs solar cell efficiency is reported. Using a p-i-n diode structure, the strain-balanced GaAsP/InGaAs MQW is grown on a GaAs substrate and equals a good GaAs cell in terms of power conversion efficiency. The cell design is presented together with measurements of the forward bias dark current density, quantum efficiency, and 3000 K light-IV response. Cell efficiencies under standard air mass (AM) 1.5 and AM 0 illumination are projected from experimental data and the suitability of this cell for enhancing GaInP/GaAs tandem cell efficiencies is discussed.

Emission spectra and mode structure of InAs/GaAs self-organized quantum dot lasers

A study of the emission spectra and mode structure of InAs/GaAs self-organized quantum dot lasers is presented. In contrast to conventional bulk or quantum well lasers, the number of lasing modes increases above threshold. This behavior is shown to be consistent with carriers localized in noninteracting dots and a resultant inhomogeneously broadened gain spectrum. The lasing spectra are found to have a complicated form with groups of longitudinal modes separated by nonlasing spectral regions and lasing occurring via a number of different lateral modes. These characteristics are discussed in terms of the spatially discrete nature of the quantum dots.

Gate leakage effects and breakdown voltage in metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors

The gate leakage behavior in AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors was studied as a function of applied bias, temperature, and surface periphery. A surface hopping conduction mechanism with an activation energy of 0.21 eV is proposed for the gate–drain leakage for voltages that exceed pinchoff. The reverse breakdown voltage of the device exhibited a negative temperature coefficient of −0.11 V K−1, suggesting that a breakdown mechanism other than impact ionization, such as thermal runaway, may be responsible.

Strained and strain-balanced quantum well devices for high-efficiency tandem solar cells

Abstract The state of GaAs/InGaAs quantum well solar cell research is reviewed. The effect of strain upon the GaAs/InGaAs cells is discussed and the limits to a strained GaAs/InGaAs cell established. The strain-balance approach is suggested as a means of overcoming the limits inherent to the strained approach and the principle is demonstrated in two differing device configurations. The strain-balance devices show enhanced efficiencies over their strained counterparts and in one case, comparable efficiency to a good GaAs control cell. The application of these cells to tandem structures is discussed, indicating the potential for a substantial efficiency enhancement.

Voltage enhancement in quantum well solar cells

It is known that quantum well solar cells (QWSCs) can enhance short circuit current and power conversion efficiency in comparison with similar, conventional solar cells made from the quantum well (QW) barrier material alone. In this article we report measurements of the dark‐current and open‐circuit voltage (Voc) of a number of quantum well cells in three different lattice‐matched material systems, namely, Al0.35Ga0.65As/GaAs, GaInP/GaAs, and InP/InGaAs. We also present the results obtained from comparable control cells without wells formed either from the material of the barriers or the well material alone. Our results clearly demonstrate in all three cases that, at fixed voltage, QWSC dark currents are systematically lower than would be expected from control cells with the same effective absorption edge. Measurements of Voc in a white‐light source show that the open‐circuit voltages of the QWSCs are higher than those of control cells formed from the well material. Furthermore, this enhancement is more t...

Comparative study of InGaAs quantum dot lasers with different degrees of dot layer confinement

We report a comparative study of the gain and lasing characteristics of two different InGaAs quantum dot (QD) laser designs, with multiple QD layers separated by barriers of (A) GaAs or (B) GaAs/AlGaAs. A higher degree of carrier confinement in structure B results in superior lasing characteristics at elevated temperatures. However, at temperatures below 130 K these devices demonstrate inhomogeneously broadened gain spectra, resulting in lasing over a much wider energy range than for structure A. The results are consistent with inefficient, low temperature interdot carrier transport in devices based on structure B.

Electric-field-dependent carrier capture and escape in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Photoluminescence and complementary photocurrent spectroscopy, both as a function of electric field, are used to probe carrier capture and escape mechanisms in InAs/GaAs quantum dots. Carrier capture from the GaAs matrix is found to be highly field sensitive, being fully quenched in fields of only 15 kV/cm. For fields less than 20 kV/cm, carriers excited in the wetting layer are shown to be captured by the dots very effectively, whereas for fields in excess of 50 kV/cm tunnel escape from the wetting layer into the GaAs continuum is dominant. For excitation directly into the dots, radiative recombination dominates up to 100 kV/cm.

Comparison of different surface passivation dielectrics in AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors

Different dielectrics were used for post-processing surface passivation of AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFETs) and the resulting electrical characteristics examined. An increase in the maximum drain current of approximately 25% was observed after Si3N4 and SiO2 deposition and ~15% for annealed SiO on AlGaN/GaN HFETs. In all cases, the passivation was found to increase the gate leakage current with an observed reduction in the leakage activation energy. However, the rise in gate leakage current was least for SiO. The plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition method was found not to contribute to the passivation mechanism, whilst the presence of Si appears to be an important factor.

Tailoring of internal fields in InGaAs/GaAs multiwell structures grown on (111)B GaAs

We present a study of internal field distributions in strained InGaAs/GaAs multiple quantum wells in p‐i‐n structures grown on (111)B‐oriented GaAs. Room temperature photocurrent spectroscopy shows clear blueshifting of the e1‐hh1 transition as the well fields are reduced by external bias. The relative length of total well to total barrier material is shown to be an important factor in determining the well and barrier fields. We demonstrate a photocurrent contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for only 3 V applied bias across a 25 quantum well In0.13Ga0.87As p‐i‐n diode and discuss the implication of our results to the design of high performance electro‐optic modulators and self electro‐optic effect devices in this material system.

Sequential tunneling due to intersubband scattering in double‐barrier resonant tunneling devices

Magnetoquantum oscillations in the tunnel current of double‐barrier n‐GaAs/(AlGa)As/GaAs/(AlGa)As/GaAs resonant tunneling devices reveal evidence of sequential tunneling in the voltage range corresponding to the resonance when electrons tunnel into the second subband of the GaAs quantum well. The sequential tunneling arises from intersubband scattering between two quasi‐bound states of the well. Near this resonance, the charge buildup in the well can be estimated from the magnetoquantum oscillations.