As an intermediate band (IB) originating from discrete nitrogen (N) levels is formed in GaP:N with increasing N concentration, GaP1−xNx alloy is considered to be a promising candidate for IB‐type solar cells. We studied the IB luminescence of a GaP1−xNx with 0.56% N and detected carrier recombination (CR) levels by superposing a below‐gap excitation (BGE) light of 1.17 eV. We resolved a high‐energy component of 2.15 eV in the IB luminescence, Ihigh, from total luminescence intensity Iall. With increasing the BGE density at fixed temperature of 5 K, the amount of decrease in Ihigh was distinctly smaller than that of simple temperature rise without the BGE at the same Iall value. We conclude that the observed intensity change of the IB luminescence due to the BGE comes not from thermal activation, but from optical excitation among the IB, conduction band, and CR levels in GaP1−xNx. It is of primal importance to understand CR levels toward determining their origins and eliminating them for realization of efficient IB‐type solar cells.

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In the present study, the performance parameters of GaAsN dilute nitride-based semiconductor solar cell with and without AlGaAs blocking layers have been investigated in detail by Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator in one dimensional software program (SCAPS-1D). The thickness of absorber, buffer, and blocking layers are varied to achieve the improvement of open circuit voltage, short circuit current, fill factor, efficiency and also to optimize the device structure. The impact of doping and defect densities on the solar cell performance parameters have been analyzed minutely inside the absorber, buffer, and blocking layers. The solar cell thermal stability parameters are also investigated in the temperature region from 273K to 373K. The efficiency of 43.90% and 40.05% are obtained from the proposed solar cells with and without AlGaAs blocking layer, respectively. The present findings may provide insightful approach for fabricating feasible, cost effective, and efficient dilute nitride solar cell.