Efficiency enhancement calculations of state-of-the-art solar cells by luminescent layers with spectral shifting, quantum cutting, and quantum tripling function

Solar cells of which the efficiency is not limited by the Shockley-Queisser limit can be obtained by integrating a luminescent spectral conversion layer into the cell structure. We have calculated the maximum efficiency of state-of-the-art c-Si, pc-Si, a-Si, CdTe, GaAs, CIS, CIGS, CGS, GaSb, and Ge solar cells with and without an integrated...

Optical polarization properties of a nanowire quantum dot probed along perpendicular orientations

We report on the optical properties of single quantum dots in nanowires probed along orthogonal directions. We address the same quantum dot from either the nanowire side or along the nanowire axis via reflection on a micro-prism. The collected photoluminescence intensity from nanowires lying on a substrate is improved 3-fold using the prism as...

Spontaneous emission control of single quantum dots in bottom-up nanowire waveguides

Nanowire waveguides with controlled shape are promising for engineering the collection efficiency of quantum light sources. We investigate the exciton lifetime in individual InAsP quantum dots, perfectly positioned on-axis of InP nanowire waveguides. We demonstrate control over the quantum dot spontaneous emission by varying the nanowire...

Position-controlled [100] InP nanowire arrays

We investigate the growth of vertically standing [100] zincblende InP nanowire (NW) arrays on InP (100) substrates in the vapor-liquid-solid growth mode using low-pressure metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy. Precise positioning of these NWs is demonstrated by electron beam lithography. The vertical NW yield can be controlled by different...

Position controlled nanowires for infrared single photon emission

We report the experimental demonstration of single-photon and cascaded photon pair emission in the infrared, originating from a single InAsP quantum dot embedded in a standing InP nanowire. A regular array of nanowires is fabricated by epitaxial growth on an electron-beam patterned substrate. Photoluminescence spectra taken on single quantum...

Single quantum dot nanowire photodetectors

We report InP nanowire photodetectors with a single InAsP quantum dot as light absorbing element. With excitation above the InP band gap, the nanowire photodetectors are efficient (quantum efficiency of 4%). Under resonant excitation of the quantum dot, the photocurrent amplitude depends on the linear polarization direction of the incident light...

Surround-gated vertical nanowire quantum dots

We report voltage dependent photoluminescence experiments on single indium arsenide phosphide (InAsP) quantum dots embedded in vertical surround-gated indium phosphide (InP) nanowires. We show that by tuning the gate voltage, we can access different quantum dot charge states. We study the anisotropic exchange splitting by polarization analysis,...

Diameter-dependent conductance of InAs nanowires

Electrical conductance through InAs nanowires is relevant for electronic applications as well as for fundamental quantum experiments. Here, we employ nominally undoped, slightly tapered InAs nanowires to study the diameter dependence of their conductance. By contacting multiple sections of each wire, we can study the diameter dependence within...

Birefringence-induced mode-dependent tuning of liquid crystal infiltrated InGaAsP photonic crystal nanocavities

Mode-dependent shifts of resonant frequencies of cavities in liquid crystal (LC) infiltrated planar photonic crystals (PhC) are experimentally observed when the temperature is varied across the LC ordering transition. The shifts can be in opposite directions, even for two very similar nearly degenerate modes. The behavior is attributed to the...

Wavelength-sized cavities in high aspect InP/InGaAsP/InP photonic crystals

The photonic properties of two classes of wavelength-sized cavities are reported for deeply etched InP/InGaAsP/InP planar photonic crystals. The high aspect, deeply etched structures are studied as potential building blocks for nonmembrane type photonic devices in standard InP photonic integrated circuits. The first class consists of cavities of...

Sharp emission from single InAs quantum dots grown on vicinal GaAs surfaces

We report on optical studies of single InAs quantum dots grown on vicinal GaAs(001) surfaces. To ensure low quantum dot density and appropriate size, we deposit InAs layers 1.4 or 1.5 ML thick, thinner than the critical thickness for Stranski–Krastanov quantum dot formation. These dots show sharp and bright photoluminescence. Lifetime...

Comparative study of Cl2, Cl2/O2, and Cl2/N2 inductively coupled plasma processes for etching of high-aspect-ratio photonic-crystal holes in InP

An extensive investigation has been performed on inductively coupled plasma etching of InP. An important motivation for this work is the fabrication of high-aspect-ratio holes for photonic crystals. The essential chemistry is based on Cl2 with the addition of N2 or O2 for sidewall passivation. The influence of different process parameters such...

Time-of-flight studies on TiO2/CuInS2 heterojunctions

Time-of-Flight (TOF) measurements have been performed on n-type TiO2/p-type CuInS2 heterojunctions. The TiO2 film thickness has been varied between 200 and 400 nm, while the CuInS2 film thickness has been fixed at 500 nm. The TOF response can be accurately modeled, if the potential drop across the p-n heterojunction with a large density of...

Elucidation of homojunction formation in CuInS2 with impedance spectroscopy

Type transformation in CuInSe2 and CuInS2 solar cells is an important issue with far reaching consequences. In the present study, the presence of a p-n homojunction inside CuInS2 in a TiO2/CuInS2 device is revealed with a detailed impedance spectroscopy and capacitance study. A n-type CuInS2 film with a thickness of 40?nm is found at the TiO2 (n...

A time-resolved microwave conductivity study of the optoelectronic processes in TiO2?In2S3?CuInS2 heterojunctions

Photoinduced interfacial charge carrier generation, separation, trapping, and recombination in TiO2?In2S3?CuInS2 cells have been studied with time-resolved microwave conductivity (TRMC). Single layer, double layer, and complete triple layer configurations have been studied. Selective electronic excitation in one of the components is accomplished...

InP-based two-dimensional photonic crystals filled with polymers

Polymer filling of the air holes of indium-phosphide-based two-dimensional photonic crystals is reported. After infiltration of the holes with a liquid monomer and solidification of the infill in situ by thermal polymerization, complete filling is proven using scanning electron microscopy. Optical transmission measurements of a filled photonic...

Deep-level transient spectroscopy of TiO2/CuInS2 heterojunctions

Deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) has been used to measure the concentration and energy position of deep electronic states in CuInS2. Flat TiO2?CuInS2 heterojunctions as well as TiO2-CuInS2 nanocomposites have been investigated. Subband-gap electronic states in CuInS2 films are mostly due to antisite point defects and vacancies....

Single-electron tunneling in InP nanowires

We report on the fabrication and electrical characterization of field-effect devices based on wire-shaped InP crystals grown from Au catalyst particles by a vapor–liquid–solid process. Our InP wires are n-type doped with diameters in the 40–55-nm range and lengths of several micrometers. After being deposited on an oxidized Si substrate, wires...