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Intermediate band solar cells (IBSCs) fabricated to date from In(Ga)As/GaAs quantum dot arrays (QD-IBSC) exhibit a quantum efficiency (QE) that extends to below bandgap energies. However, the production of sub-bandgap photocurrent relies often on the thermal and/or tunneling escape of carriers from the QDs, which is incompatible with preservation of the output voltage. In this work, we test the effectiveness of introducing a thick GaAs spacer in addition to an InAlGaAs strain relief layer (SRL) over the QDs to reduce carrier escape. From an analysis of the QE at different temperatures, it is concluded that escape via tunneling can be completely blocked under short-circuit conditions, and that carriers confined in QDs with an InAlGaAs SRL exhibit a thermal escape activation energy over 100 meV larger than in the case of InAs QDs capped only with GaAs.

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Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) is used to reveal individual Au atom configurations inside Si nanowires grown by Au-catalyzed vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) molecular beam epitaxy (MBE).We identify a substitutional and three distinct interstitial configurations, one of which has not been previously identified. We confirm the stability of the observed point defect configurations by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The observed number densities of the various configurations are in accord with their calculated formation energies. The concentration of Au atoms is larger than the solubility limit, but the effect may be caused by the STEM beam.

Room temperature photoluminescence at 1.6μm is demonstrated from InGaAs quantum dots capped with an 8nm GaAsSb quantum well. Results obtained from various sample structures are compared, including samples capped with GaAs. The observed redshift in GaAsSb capped samples is attributed to a type II band alignment and to a beneficial modification of growth kinetics during capping due to the presence of Sb. The sample structure is discussed on the basis of transmission electron microscopy results.