Near 1 V open circuit voltage InAs/GaAs quantum dot solar cells

Abstract

Ten-layer InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) solar cells exhibiting enhanced short circuit current (Jsc) and open circuit voltage (Voc) comparable to a control GaAs p-i-n solar cell are reported. 1 sun Jsc is enhanced by 3.5% compared to that of the GaAs control, while the Voc is maintained at 994 mV. Results were achieved using optimized InAs QD coverage and a modified strain balancing technique, resulting in a high QD density (3.6×1010 cm−2), uniform QD size (4×16 nm2), and low residual strain (103 ppm). This enhanced Voc is a promising result for the future of InAs QD-enhanced GaAs solar cells.