Investigation of the open-circuit voltage in solar cells doped with quantum dots

Quantum dots (QDs) have attracted much attention for use in photovoltaic applications because of their potential for overcoming the limits of conventional single-junction devices. One problem associated with solar cells using QDs is that the open-circuit voltage (V(oc)) always decreases with the addition of QDs with respect to the reference cell without QDs. Here, we report the investigation of current–voltage characteristics in Ge/Si QD solar cells in the temperature range from 100 to 300 K. We show that even though V(oc) decreases with increasing temperature, it depends on the nominal Ge thickness, indicating that V(oc) reduction is primarily caused by a decrease in the bandgap energy of the cell. From photoluminescence decay measurements, we found that rapid carrier extraction from QDs occurred in the solar cells; this process eliminates the quasi-Fermi energy splitting between the QDs and the host semiconductor and causes V(oc) reduction in QD solar cells.