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Quantum dot infrared photodetectors (QDIPs) have attracted significant attention due to selective photoresponse, high photoconductive gain, and numerous possibilities for nanoscale engineering of photoelectron processes, which control the detector characteristics. Our approach to improving QDIP performance is based on optimization of three dimensional nanoscale potential profile created by charged quantum dots (QDs). Nanoscale profile around QDs allows us to control photoelectron capture processes, which determines the photoelectron lifetime, detector operating speed, responsivity, the spectral density of noise, noise bandwidth, and the detector dynamic range. The nanoscale potential profile is determined by doping of QDs and inter-dot space. In this work, we study various ways of selective doping and its effects on characteristics of photodetectors. We investigate and compare intra-dot doping, inter-dot doping, and complex bipolar doping. To investigate effects of selective doping, we fabricated AlGaAs/InAs QD structures with n-doping of QD layers, structures with n-doping of barriers, and structures with p-doping of QD layers and n-doping of interdot space. We measured dark current, spectral photoresponse, voltage dependence of responsivity, and noise characteristic. The photoresponse is improved due to photon-electron coupling, which increases with QD filling by electrons. However, the noise current also increases due to increase in QD filling. Therefore, possibilities for improvement of QDIP structures with unipolar doping are very limited. Our results show that spectral photoresponse, responsivity, and detector sensitivity are substantially improved due to bipolar doping, which provides decoupled control of electron filling of QDs and the potential barriers around QDs.

Nanoscale engineering of band profile and potential profile provide effective tools for the management of photoelectron processes in quantum dot (QD) photovoltaic devices. We investigate the QD devices with various 1-μm InAs /GaAs QD media placed in a 3-μm base GaAs p-n junction. We found that n-charging of quantum dots (QDs) create potential barriers around QDs. QD growth between ultrathin AlGaAs layers leads to the formation of AlGaAs “fence” barriers, and reduces the wetting layers (WLs). The barriers around QDs and reduction of the wetting layer substantially suppress recombination processes via QDs. The n-doping of interdot space in QD media enhances electron extraction from QDs. All of our QD devices show short-circuit current, J SC , higher than that of the reference cell, but smaller open-circuit voltage, V OC .. In the QD devices, the short circuit currents increase by ~0.1 mA/cm 2 per dot layer. J SC reaches 28.4 mA/cm 2 in the device with QD media that combines dot charging, fence barriers, and WL reduction.

Efficient photovoltaic energy harvesting requires device structures capable of absorbing a wide spectrum of incident radiation and extracting the photogenerated carriers at high voltages. In this paper, we review the impact of active layer thickness on the voltage performance of GaAs-based photovoltaic device structures. We observe that thin absorber structures can be leveraged to increase the operating voltage of energy harvesting devices. Thin absorbers in combination with advanced light trapping structures provide an exciting pathway for enhancing the performance of flexible, lightweight photovoltaic modules suitable for mobile and portable power applications.

Optoelectronic materials for advanced IR sensing should combine wide strong electron coupling to the IR radiation, spectral tunability, adjustable dynamic range, manageable trade-off parameters, such as the noise characteristics and the operating time. Modern nanomaterials based on quantum dots and quantum wells provide wide possibilities to manage photoelectron processes via tuning the charge of quantum dots and quantum wells by the electric field and/or optical pumping. Variations in charge built in dots and wells change spectral characteristics, photocarrier lifetimes, and noise processes. These effects are especially strong in nanomaterials with strong selective doping of dots and wells. Manageable built-in charge provides wide possibilities to control the spectra, detector responsivity, and recombination processes.

Most of investigations of quantum dot photovoltaic devices are aimed at the development of the intermediate band solar cell. To form the intermediate band by quantum dot electron levels, the dots should be placed close to one to another. This leads to strain accumulation and defects, which increase the photocarrier recombination, and recombination losses. To avoid the nanostructuring-induced recombination, we proposed and studied an alternative approach, which is based on the separation of quantum dots (QDs) or QD clusters from the conducting channels by potential barriers created by quantum dots with built-in charge (Q-BIC). Charging of QDs improves the performance of QD solar cells due to the following factors: Negative dot charging increases electron coupling to sub-bandgap photons and provides effective harvesting of IR energy. Because of the strong difference in effective masses of electrons and holes, an electron level spacing in QDs substantially exceeds a level spacing for holes. Therefore, QDs act as deep traps for electrons, but they are shallow traps for holes. Thus, the holes trapped in QDs may be excited by thermal phonons, while excitation of localized QDs electrons requires IR radiation or the interaction with hot electrons. Therefore, n-doping of QD structures is strongly preferable for photovoltaic applications. Charging of QDs is also an effective tool for managing the potential profile at micro- and nanoscales. Filling QDs predominantly from dopants in the QD medium allows one to maintain the macroscale profile analogous to that in the best conventional single-junction solar cells.

We investigated the effects of doping on the photovoltaic efficiency in a GaAs reference cell, and in undoped, n-doped, and p-doped InAs/GaAs quantum-dot (QD) solar cells. We found that the photovoltaic efficiency of the undoped QD solar cell is almost the same as that of the reference cell. However, the efficiency improves monotonically with increasing inter-dot ndoping, while p-doping deteriorates the photovoltaic conversion. We observed a 50 % increase in photovoltaic efficiency in the device n-doped to provide approximately six electrons per dot as compared with the undoped QD cell. In this QD solar cell, the short circuit current density increases to 24.30 mA/cm 2 compared with 15.07 mA/cm 2 in the undoped QD solar cell without deterioration of the open circuit voltage. To identify the physical mechanisms that provide this improvement, we investigated the spectral characteristics of the photovoltaic response and photoluminescence of our QD solar cells. We found that the electron capture into QDs is substantially faster than the hole capture, which leads to an accumulation of electrons in QDs. The electrons trapped in dots enhance IR transitions. The built-in-dot electron charge together with charged dopants outside the dots creates potential barriers, which suppress the fast electron capture processes and at the larger scale form a potential profile which precludes degradation of the open circuit voltage. All of these factors lead to the enhanced harvesting of IR energy and a radical improvement of the QD solar cell efficiency. Higher efficiencies are anticipated with further increase of doping level and at higher radiation intensity. This makes the QD solar cells promising candidates for use with concentrators of solar radiation.