Progress on Hot Carrier Cells (invited talk)

Hot Carrier cells aim to tackle the carrier thermalisation loss after absorption of above band-gap photons by separating and collecting carriers before they thermalise. This requires slowed carrier cooling in an absorber material and collection through narrow selective energy contacts. Previous work has proved the concept of these selective energy contacts using resonant tunneling in Si QD double barrier structures. Further experimental work on electrical and optical excitation of these structures will be re presented. Previous modeling work has demonstrated the possibility of slowing the rate of carrier cooling by modifying the phonon dispersion in QD superlattices. Developments in this modeling which indicate the critical importance of the interface are also presented.