Resonant tunneling in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well system for solar photovoltaics

In this paper, we propose a simple and effective method to vary the lowest subband position in a quantum well system. A nearly continuous variation - from the bottom of the quantum well up to a continuous spectrum – can be achieved by inserting a series of thin barriers of host material into a quantum well of fixed width. This technique is technologically simple and promising in a variety of applications, in particular, for aligning the lowest subband position in the sequence of quantum wells in an electric field of an arbitrary configuration, including those typical for p–i–n solar cells.