Turid Worren Reenaas

Photofilling of intermediate bands

A detailed balance model for the intermediate band (IB) solar cell has been developed. The model allows the electron concentration in the IB to vary and assumes a linear relation between this concentration and the absorption coefficients related to transitions over the subband gaps. Numerical results show that for IBs with densities of states typical for quantum dot-superlattices it is possible to sustain a useful population of photogenerated electrons in the IB when the cell is exposed to concentrated light. For unconcentrated light the IB must be partially filled by means of doping to achieve high efficiencies within reasonable optical path lengths. The filling of the IB is shown to vary with light intensity, cell voltage, density of IB-states, and the positioning of the IB in the main band gap both for cells that are partially filled by doping and for photofilled cells.

Optimization towards high density quantum dots for intermediate band solar cells grown by molecular beam epitaxy

We report high density quantum dots (QDs) formation with optimized growth temperature and V/III ratio. At lower growth temperature, QD density is increased, due to smaller surface migration length of In adatoms. With higher V/III, the QD density is higher but it results in large clusters formation and decreases the QD uniformity. The QD solar cell was fabricated and examined. An extended spectral response in contrast to the GaAs reference cell was presented but the external quantum efficiency at energies higher than GaAs band gap is reduced, resulting from the degradation for the emitter above the strained QD layers.

Positioning effects on quantum dot solar cells grown by molecular beam epitaxy

We report current-voltage and spectral response characteristics of high density InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) solar cells with different positions where dots are located. The short circuit current density (Jsc), open circuit voltage (Voc), and external quantum efficiency of these cells under air mass 1.5 are presented and compared with a GaAs reference cell. An extended photoresponse in contrast to the GaAs reference cell was confirmed for all these cells. The effect of inserting QD layers into emitter and base region on device performance is shown. The Jsc is reduced, while the Voc is maintained. The cell with QDs located toward the base side shows better performance, confirmed by both current-voltage and spectral response measurements.

Limiting efficiency of intermediate band solar cells with spectrally selective reflectors

So far, theoretical efficiency limits for the intermediate band solar cell have been calculated under the assumption that the absorptivity of the solar cell is 1 for all photon energies larger than the smallest subband gap. In the present work, efficiency limits have been calculated under the assumption that the cell is covered by spectrally selective reflectors. The efficiency limit for the 1 sun 6000 K black body spectrum is found to increase from 46.8% to 48.5% and the limit for the AM1.5G spectrum (as defined by ASTM G173–03) is found to increase from 49.4% to 52.0%.

Optimal Filling of the Intermediate Band in Idealized Intermediate-Band Solar Cells

The optimal filling of the intermediate band (IB) of an IB solar cell is investigated. Using models based on detailed balance principles, it is shown that the optimal filling varies with the size of the subband gaps, the absorptivity of the cell, and the degree of the overlap between the absorption coefficients as well as the mutual sizes of the absorption cross sections for transitions over the subband gaps. The results of calculations that show how nonoptimal filling affects the cell efficiency are also presented. In several cases, a deviation from the optimal filling will only result in small changes in the efficiency. However, cases where the efficiency is reduced dramatically due to nonoptimal filling are also identified. For some cases, the negative impact of nonoptimal filling can be reduced by increasing the absorptivity of the cell or, when the effect of photofilling is significant, by increasing the light concentration.

Pulsed laser deposition of Si nanodots for photonic applications

Several growths of Si nanodots on Si and GaAs substrates were conducted by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) using a KrF laser of 248nm, 15ns, 12Hz and a Ti-sapphire laser of 800nm, 130fs, 1kHz at 1x10-5mbar vacuum. The laser fluencies on a Si target were varied from 3 to 32J/cm2 for the nanosecond (ns) PLD growths and 1-2.75J/cm2 for the femtosecond (fs) PLD. Wide range of nanodots from 20nm to a few micron size droplets were observed from both the ns and fs PLD. Auger electron spectroscopy of the nanodots was conducted and which indicated that the nanodots were without contamination. A technique using a mask consisting of an array of small holes was used to obtain high density nanodots with uniform size. The array of 100nm diameter holes was created by E-beam lithography. With this technique we have achieved 100nm Si dots with 300nm spacing between them, with few defects. We have observed that laser fluences closer to the ablation threshold work better for deposition using the EBL mask. In summary, we have demonstrated the growth of 100nm Si nanodots in an array with very few defects using the EBL masking technique.

Quantitative strain analysis of InAs/GaAs quantum dot materials

Geometric phase analysis has been applied to high resolution aberration corrected (scanning) transmission electron microscopy images of InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) materials. We show quantitatively how the lattice mismatch induced strain varies on the atomic scale and tetragonally distorts the lattice in a wide region that extends several nm into the GaAs spacer layer below and above the QDs. Finally, we show how V-shaped dislocations originating at the QD/GaAs interface efficiently remove most of the lattice mismatch induced tetragonal distortions in and around the QD.

Cr-doped ZnS for intermediate band solar cells

In this paper we present preliminary current-voltage characteristics of different ZnS/p-Si hetero-junction solar cells, under 1 sun illumination. The devices with Cr-doped ZnS show an increase in the short circuit current, and only a slight decrease in the open circuit voltage compared to the devices with undoped ZnS. The ZnS films were prepared using pulsed laser deposition on p-doped Si (100) substrates, and are highly (111) oriented. For the Cr-doped films absorption of sub-bandgap photons is observed in the UV-VIS wavelength range. The findings support the identification of Cr-doped ZnS as a promising intermediate band solar cell material.

Band-edge modification and mid-infrared absorption of co-deposited FexZn1-xS thin films

The bandgap of iron-doped ZnS has been reported by others to change significantly under the addition of a few atomic percent of iron, which would have significant implications for solar energy. Here, thin films of FexZn1-xS with x = 0 to 0.24 were made by co-deposition of Fe and ZnS using thermal evaporation. In contrast to results on nanoparticles and electrodeposited materials, all co-deposited films had optical properties consistent with a direct bandgap of ~3-3.5 eV. The absorption peak at 2.7 µm from substitutional Fe2+ in the ZnS films was well isolated up to concentrations of over 2% (~1021cm−3), despite the small crystallite size, suggesting the films may have applications as mid-infrared saturable absorbers. Increasing dopant concentration resulted in band edge softening. Density functional calculations are presented and are consistent with our observations of the Fe:ZnS films, demonstrating spin-polarized midgap states and additional states at the band edge.

Bandgap measurement of high refractive index materials by off-axis EELS

In the present work Cs aberration corrected and monochromated scanning transmission electron microscopy electron energy loss spectroscopy (STEM-EELS) has been used to explore experimental set-ups that allow bandgaps of high refractive index materials to be determined. Semi-convergence and -collection angles in the µrad range were combined with off-axis or dark field EELS to avoid relativistic losses and guided light modes in the low loss range to contribute to the acquired EEL spectra. Off-axis EELS further supressed the zero loss peak and the tail of the zero loss peak. The bandgap of several GaAs-based materials were successfully determined by simple regression analyses of the background subtracted EEL spectra. The presented set-up does not require that the acceleration voltage is set to below the Čerenkov limit and can be applied over the entire acceleration voltage range of modern TEMs and for a wide range of specimen thicknesses.