RESUMEN
To explain the phenomenon of all-optical modulation of quantum cascade laser (QCL), and explore the physics in QCL's gain medium which consists of multiple of dielectric nanostructures with high refractive index under light injection, we modified the 1½-period model to calculate values of electron population and lifetime in each subband which is separated by the nanostructures, optical gain, current and number of photons in the cavity of a mid-infrared QCL modulated with near-infrared optical injection. The results were consistent with an experiment, where the injected light increases the electron population and lifetime, but does not affect the optical gain obviously. Our study can be helpful for optimizing its use and dielectric nanostructure design.
RESUMEN
Light trapping in subwavelength semiconductor nanowires (NWs) offers a promising approach to simultaneously reducing material consumption and enhancing photovoltaic performance. Nevertheless, the absorption efficiency of a NW, defined by the ratio of optical absorption cross section to the NW diameter, lingers around 1 in existing NW photonic devices, and the absorption enhancement suffers from a narrow spectral width. Here, we show that the absorption efficiency can be significantly improved in NWs with higher refractive indices, by an experimental observation of up to 350% apparent external quantum efficiency in lead sulfide NW resonators, a 3-fold increase compared to Si NWs. Furthermore, broadband absorption enhancement is achieved in single tapered NWs, where light of various wavelengths is absorbed at segments with different diameters. Overall, the single NW Schottky junction solar cells benefit from optical resonance, near bandgap open circuit voltage, and long minority carrier diffusion length, demonstrating power conversion efficiency comparable to Si and III-V single NW coaxial p-n junction cells but with much simpler fabrication processes.