Silicon quantum dot superlattices: Modeling of energy bands, densities of states, and mobilities for silicon tandem solar cell applications

Quantum dot superlattices offer prospects for new generations of semiconductor devices. One possible recently suggested application is in tandem solar cells based entirely on silicon, using confinement in the quantum dot to control the cell band gap. In this paper, we use the effective mass approach to calculate the conduction band structure of a three-dimensional silicon quantum dot superlattice with the dots embedded in a matrix of silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, or silicon carbide. The quantum dot superlattice is modeled as a regularly spaced array of equally sized cubic dots in the respective matrix. Incorporating the effect of silicon anisotropic effective mass is shown to reduce both the degeneracies of the isotropic solutions and the energy separation between states. Electron densities of state and mobilities are derived from the band structure data. Theoretical results for the effect of dot size, interdot distance, and matrix material have been obtained. These results clarify the required design features of silicon quantum dot superlattices for the proposed all-silicon tandem solar cells.