| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 438094000 | Heterojunction | 63 |
| 20090061557 | METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SUBSTRATE FOR PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION ELEMENT - A silicon layer having a conductivity type opposite to that of a bulk is provided on the surface of a silicon substrate and hydrogen ions are implanted to a predetermined depth into the surface region of the silicon substrate through the silicon layer to form a hydrogen ion-implanted layer. Then, an n-type germanium-based crystal layer whose conductivity type is opposite to that of the silicon layer and a p-type germanium-based crystal layer whose conductivity type is opposite to that of the germanium-based crystal layer are successively vapor-phase grown to provide a germanium-based crystal. The surface of the germanium-based crystal layer and the surface of the supporting substrate are bonded together. In this state, impact is applied externally to separate a silicon crystal from the silicon substrate along the hydrogen ion-implanted layer, thereby transferring a laminated structure composed of the germanium-based crystal and the silicon crystal onto the supporting substrate. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090087940 | Method of Successive High-Resistance Buffer Layer/Window Layer (Transparent Conductive Film) Formation for CIS Based Thin-Film Solar Cell and Apparatus for Successive Film Formation for Practicing the Method of Successive Film Formation - A high-resistance buffer layer and a window layer (transparent conductive film) are successively formed by the MOCVD method to obtain the same output characteristics as in conventional film deposition by the solution deposition method and to simplify a film deposition method and apparatus. Thus, the cost of raw materials and the cost of waste treatments are reduced to attain a considerable reduction in production cost. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090087941 | Method for producing multijunction solar cell - There is provided a method for producing a multijunction solar cell having four-junctions, the method allowing the area of a device to be increased. On a nucleation site formed on a substrate | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090130796 | Sulfurization and Selenization of Electrodeposited Cigs Films by Thermal Annealing - The invention relates to a method for production of thin layers of semiconductor alloys of the I-III-VI | 05-21-2009 |
| 20090155952 | Exponentially Doped Layers In Inverted Metamorphic Multijunction Solar Cells - A method of forming a multifunction solar cell including an upper subcell, a middle subcell, and a lower subcell, including providing first substrate for the epitaxial growth of semiconductor material; forming a first solar subcell on the substrate having a first band gap; forming a second solar subcell over the first solar subcell having a second band gap smaller than the first band gap; forming a grading interlayer over the second subcell, the grading interlayer having a third band gap greater than the second band gap; and forming a third solar subcell over the grading interlayer having a fourth band gap smaller than the second band gap such that the third subcell is lattice mismatched with respect to the second subcell, wherein at least one of the bases of a solar subcell has an exponentially doped profile. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20100047958 | METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING CIS BASED THIN FILM SOLAR CELL DEVICE - Before a buffer layer deposition step P | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100047959 | Epitaxial Lift Off on Film Mounted Inverted Metamorphic Multijunction Solar Cells - A process for selectively freeing an epitaxial layer from a single crystal substrate upon which it was grown, by providing a first substrate; depositing a separation layer on the first substrate; depositing on the separation layer a sequence of layers of semiconductor material forming a solar cell; mounting and bonding a thin flexible support having a coefficient of thermal expansion substantially greater than that of the adjacent semiconductor material on top of the sequence of layers at an elevated temperature; and etching the separation layer while the temperature of the support and layers of semiconductor material decrease, so that the support and the attached layer curls away from the first substrate in view of their differences in coefficient of thermal expansion, so as to remove the epitaxial layer from the substrate. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100055827 | Apparatus and Method For Fabricating Photovoltaic Modules Using Heated Pocket Deposition In a Vacuum - An apparatus and method for manufacturing thin-film CdS/CdTe photovoltaic modules in a vacuum environment. The apparatus deposits CdS and CdTe layers onto a substrate using heated pocket deposition, a form of physical vapor deposition (PVD) in which a material thermally sublimes from a thermal sublimation source block and is deposited onto a substrate. The thermal sublimation source block includes a pocket having a lower surface into which an array of holes is formed to house plugs of deposition material. Upon heating, deposition material sublimes from a surface of each plug of deposition material, and the surface of each plug regresses into its corresponding hole while maintaining a constant surface area. The sublimation surface area of deposition material across the pocket remains substantially constant during an extended deposition process, and the deposition material is substantially free of undesired thermal radiation from the substrate. As such, the thermal sublimation source block provides a temporally- and spatially-uniform thin film deposition rate across the lower surface of the substrate. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100112748 | METHODS FOR FORMING NANOSTRUCTURES AND PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS IMPLEMENTING SAME - A method for forming a nanostructure according to one embodiment includes creating a hole in an insulating layer positioned over an electrically conductive layer; and forming a nanocable in the hole such that the nanocable extends through the hole in the insulating layer and protrudes therefrom, the nanocable being in communication with the electrically conductive layer. Additional systems and methods are also presented. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100120193 | IMAGE SENSOR AND FABRICATION METHOD THEREOF - An image sensor has a substrate, a dielectric layer positioned on the substrate, a pixel array including a plurality of pixels defined on the substrate, a shield electrode positioned between any two adjacent pixel electrodes of the pixels, a photo conductive layer positioned on the shield electrode and the pixel electrodes, and a transparent conductive layer covering the photo conductive layer. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100129956 | Method for forming a GexSi1-x buffer layer of solar-energy battery on a silicon wafer - The method is disclosed that Si | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100151620 | PIN-TYPE PHOTO DETECTING ELEMENT WITH THREE SEMICONDUCTOR LAYERS, AND WINDOW SEMICONDUCTOR LAYER HAVING CONTROLLED THICKNESS - A semiconductor photo detecting element includes a PIN-type photo detecting element and window semiconductor layer. The PIN-type photo detecting element has a semiconductor substrate, a first semiconductor layer, a second semiconductor layer and a third semiconductor layer. The first semiconductor layer is provided on the semiconductor substrate, is lattice-matched to the semiconductor substrate, includes a first conductivity type dopant, and has first band gap energy. The second semiconductor layer is provided on the first semiconductor layer, has the first band gap energy, and has a concentration of the first conductivity type dopant lower than that of the first semiconductor layer or is substantially undoped. The third semiconductor layer is provided on the second semiconductor layer. The window semiconductor layer has second band gap energy larger than the first band gap energy at a light-incoming side with respect to the second semiconductor layer and has a thickness of 5 nm to 50 nm. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100216277 | Formation of Devices by Epitaxial Layer Overgrowth - Methods and structures are provided for formation of devices, e.g., solar cells, on substrates including, e.g., lattice-mismatched materials, by the use of aspect ratio trapping (ART) and epitaxial layer overgrowth (ELO). In general, in a first aspect, embodiments of the invention may include a method of forming a structure. The method includes forming a first opening in a masking layer disposed over a substrate that includes a first semiconductor material. A first layer, which includes a second semi-conductor material lattice-mismatched to the first semiconductor material, is formed within the first opening. The first layer has a thickness sufficient to extend above a top surface of the masking layer. A second layer, which includes the second semiconductor material, is formed on the first layer and over at least a portion of the masking layer. A vertical growth rate of the first layer is greater than a lateral growth rate of the first layer and a lateral growth rate of the second layer is greater than a vertical growth rate of the second layer. | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100261308 | SOLAR CELL AND PROCESS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME - The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a solar cell, comprising forming a buffer layer comprising a group-III nitride semiconductor on a substrate using a sputtering method, and forming a group-III nitride semiconductor layer and electrodes on the buffer layer. The group-III nitride semiconductor layer is formed on the buffer layer by at least one selected from the group consisting of the sputtering method, a MOCVD method, an MBE method, a CBE method, and an MLE method, and the electrodes are formed on the group-III nitride semiconductor layer. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20110020979 | BULK HETEROJUNCTION ORGANIC PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS MADE BY GLANCING ANGLE DEPOSITION - A method of making a bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic cell by glancing angle deposition. As the disclosed method relies on a trajectory of incident vapor flux that is not parallel to the substrate normal, micro and nano-scale columnar structures of thin films can be grown on the substrate. There is also disclosed a method of forming a donor-acceptor heterojunction by depositing at least one additional organic material over the columnar structures. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110045630 | Photovoltaic Cells - An inline process for manufacturing a photovoltaic device on a removable substrate is disclosed. The process discloses two semiconductor layers forming an active region; at least one of the semiconductor layers is formed by a high-purity plasma spray process; optional layers include a release layer, one or more barrier layers, a cap layer, a conductive support layer, a mechanical support layer, an anti-reflection layer, and distributed Bragg reflector. The process may also be used to form multiple active regions. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110065228 | Manufacture of thin solar cells based on ink printing technology - Semiconductor ink is disclosed for use in printing thin film solar cell absorber layer. The semiconductor ink is particularly useful in fabricating multi junction tandem solar cell wherein a high bandgap absorber layer as the top cell and a lower band gap absorber layer as the bottom cell. The ink contains ingredients of IB-IIIA-VIA compound with micron-sized semiconductor as the main building “bricks” and nano-sized semiconductor as the binder to fulfill the formation of smooth semiconductive film with micron-sized crystal grain size. Thus formed ink can be used in direct printing for the fabrication of low cost high performance solar cells. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110081743 | BUFFER LAYER AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF, REACTION SOLUTION, PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION DEVICE, AND SOLAR CELL - A buffer layer manufacturing method, including: a preparation step for preparing a reaction solution which includes a component (Z) of at least one kind of zinc source, a component (S) of at least one kind of sulfur source, a component (C) of at least one kind of citrate compound, a component (N) of at least one kind selected from the group consisting of ammonia and ammonium salt, and water, in which the concentration of the component (C) is 0.001 to 0.25M, the concentration of the component (N) is 0.001 to 0.40M, and the pH of the reaction solution before the start of reaction is 9.0 to 12.0; and a film forming step for forming a Zn compound layer consisting primarily of Zn(S, O) and/or Zn(S, O, OH) by a liquid phase method with a reaction temperature of 70 to 95° C. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110143495 | METHODS OF FORMING HIGH-EFFICIENCY MULTI-JUNCTION SOLAR CELL STRUCTURES - In various embodiments, solar cells include a junction including SiGe, a junction including at least one III-V material, and may be formed on silicon substrates and/or with silicon-based capping layers thereover. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110189814 | PROCESS FOR PRODUCING PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION DEVICES - In a process for producing a photoelectric conversion device comprising a bottom electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion semiconductor layer, a buffer layer, and a transparent conductive layer, which are stacked in this order on a substrate, all film forming stages ranging from a stage of forming the buffer layer to a stage of forming the transparent conductive layer are performed with a liquid phase technique. The buffer layer is formed with a chemical bath deposition technique, and the transparent conductive layer is formed with an electrolytic deposition technique. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110269261 | DEVICES AND METHODS OF PROTECTING A CADMIUM SULFIDE FOR FURTHER PROCESSING - Methods for protecting a cadmium sulfide layer on a substrate are provided. The method can include sputtering a cadmium sulfide layer onto a substrate from a cadmium sulfide target at a sputtering pressure (e.g., about 10 mTorr to about 150 mTorr), and sputtering a cap layer directly on the cadmium sulfide layer. The cap layer can be sputtered directly onto the cadmium sulfide layer without breaking vacuum of the sputtering pressure. Methods are also provided for manufacturing a cadmium telluride based thin film photovoltaic device through depositing a cadmium sulfide layer on a substrate, depositing a cap layer directly on the cadmium sulfide layer, heating the substrate to sublimate at least a portion of the cap layer from the cadmium sulfide layer, and then depositing a cadmium telluride layer on the cadmium sulfide layer. | 11-03-2011 |
| 20110287578 | Method of fabricating bifacial tandem solar cells - A method of fabricating on a semiconductor substrate bifacial tandem solar cells with semiconductor subcells having a lower bandgap than the substrate bandgap on one side of the substrate and with subcells having a higher bandgap than the substrate on the other including, first, growing a lower bandgap subcell on one substrate side that uses only the same periodic table group V material in the dislocation-reducing grading layers and bottom subcells as is present in the substrate and after the initial growth is complete and then flipping the substrate and growing the higher bandgap subcells on the opposite substrate side which can be of different group V material. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20120028406 | HYBRID PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS AND RELATED METHODS - Embodiments of the present invention involve photovoltaic (PV) cells comprising a semiconducting nanorod-nanocrystal-polymer hybrid layer, as well as methods for fabricating the same. In PV cells according to this invention, the nanocrystals may serve both as the light-absorbing material and as the heterojunctions at which excited electron-hole pairs split. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120028407 | MULTI-LAYER N-TYPE STACK FOR CADMIUM TELLURIDE BASED THIN FILM PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES AND METHODS OF MAKING - Thin film photovoltaic devices are provided that generally include a transparent conductive oxide layer on the glass, a multi-layer n-type stack on the transparent conductive oxide layer, and a cadmium telluride layer on the multi-layer n-type stack. The multi-layer n-type stack generally includes a first layer and a second layer, where the first layer comprises cadmium and sulfur and the second layer comprises cadmium and oxygen. The multi-layer n-type stack can, in certain embodiments, include additional layers (e.g., a third layer, a fourth layer, etc.). Methods are also generally provided for manufacturing such thin film photovoltaic devices. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120058595 | DEVELOPMENT OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE QUALITY ALUMINUM ANTIMONIDE (AlSb) SEMICONDUCTOR FOR SOLAR CELL APPLICATIONS - Electronic device quality Aluminum Antimonide (AlSb)-based single crystals produced by controlled atmospheric annealing are utilized in various configurations for solar cell applications. Like that of a GaAs-based solar cell devices, the AlSb-based solar cell devices as disclosed herein provides direct conversion of solar energy to electrical power. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120108001 | METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SOLAR CELL - Disclosed are a relatively high-efficiency solar cell and a method for fabricating the same using a micro-heater array. The solar cell may include first and second micro-heaters intersecting each other or being parallel to each other on a substrate, and a plurality of In | 05-03-2012 |
| 20130122640 | HIGH-DENSITY P-DOPED QUANTUM DOT SOLAR CELL OBTAINED BY THE ACTIVE DOPING OF INP AND A PRODUCTION METHOD THEREFOR - Provided is a manufacturing method of a semiconductor quantum dot-sensitized solar cell. More particularly, the manufacturing method according to the present invention includes: a quantum dot forming step of forming a semiconductor layer containing a group 4 element and InP on a substrate and then performing heat-treatment on the substrate including the semiconductor layer formed thereon to remove indium (In) therefrom, thereby forming an n-type semiconductor quantum dot, which is a group 4 element quantum dot doped with phosphorus (P). | 05-16-2013 |
| 20130130431 | Lattice Matchable Alloy for Solar Cells - An alloy composition for a subcell of a solar cell is provided that has a bandgap of at least 0.9 eV, namely, Ga | 05-23-2013 |
| 20130157404 | DOUBLE-SIDED HETEROJUNCTION SOLAR CELL BASED ON THIN EPITAXIAL SILICON - One embodiment of the present invention provides a double-sided heterojunction solar cell. The solar cell includes a lightly doped epitaxial crystalline Si (c-Si) base layer, a front-side passivation layer situated on the front side of the lightly doped epitaxial c-Si base layer, a back-side passivation layer situated on the back side of the lightly doped epitaxial c-Si base layer, a front-side emitter situated on the surface of the front-side passivation layer, a back surface field (BSF) layer situated on the surface of the back-side passivation layer, a front-side electrode, and a back-side electrode. | 06-20-2013 |
| 20130164884 | ASSEMBLY OF QUASICRYSTALLINE PHOTONIC HETEROSTRUCTURES - A method and system for assembling a quasicrystalline heterostructure. A plurality of particles is provided with desirable predetermined character. The particles are suspended in a medium, and holographic optical traps are used to position the particles in a way to achieve an arrangement which provides a desired property. | 06-27-2013 |
| 20130230944 | DOPING AN ABSORBER LAYER OF A PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICE VIA DIFFUSION FROM A WINDOW LAYER - Methods for doping an absorbent layer of a p-n heterojunction in a thin film photovoltaic device are provided. The method can include depositing a window layer on a transparent substrate, where the window layer includes at least one dopant (e.g., copper). A p-n heterojunction can be formed on the window layer, with the p-n heterojunction including a photovoltaic material (e.g., cadmium telluride) in an absorber layer. The dopant can then be diffused from the window layer into the absorber layer (e.g., via annealing). | 09-05-2013 |
| 20130230945 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A TRANSPARENT CONDUCTIVE OXIDE USING HYDROGEN - A method and apparatus for forming a crystalline cadmium stannate layer of a photovoltaic device by heating an amorphous layer in the presence of hydrogen gas. | 09-05-2013 |
| 20130344644 | PHOTORECEPTOR WITH IMPROVED BLOCKING LAYER - A photoreceptor includes a multilayer blocking structure to reduce dark discharge of the surface voltage of the photoreceptor resulting from electron injection from an electrically conductive substrate. The multilayer blocking structure includes wide band gap semiconductor layers in alternating sequence with one or more narrow band gap blocking layers. A fabrication method of the photoreceptor includes transfer-doping of the narrow band gap blocking layers, which are deposited in alternating sequence with wide band gap semiconductor layers to form a blocking structure. Suppression of hole or electron injection can be obtained using the method. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20130344645 | MANUFACTURING SEMICONDUCTOR-BASED MULTI-JUNCTION PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES - Manufacture of multi-junction solar cells, and devices thereof, are disclosed. The architectures are also adapted to provide for a more uniform and consistent fabrication of the solar cell structures, leading to improved yields and lower costs. Certain solar cells may further include one or more compositional gradients of one or more semiconductor elements in one or more semiconductor layers, resulting in a more optimal solar cell device. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20140004654 | TEXTURED MULTI-JUNCTION SOLAR CELL AND FABRICATION METHOD | 01-02-2014 |
| 20140024169 | Method of Hybrid Stacked Flip Chip for a Solar Cell - A method of hybrid stacked Flip chip for a solar cell onto which semiconductor layers of different materials are stacked in the Flip chip technology to solve the problem of lattices mismatch between the layers for further increase of the efficiency of solar cell. | 01-23-2014 |
| 20140099748 | HYBRID MULTI-JUNCTION PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS AND ASSOCIATED METHODS - A multi-junction photovoltaic cell includes a substrate and a back contact layer formed on the substrate. A low bandgap Group IB-IIIB-VIB | 04-10-2014 |
| 20140106499 | METHOD FOR FABRICATING SOLAR CELL ELEMENT - A method for fabricating a solar cell element, the method comprising a step (a) of preparing a laminate and a chamber, a step (b) of bringing the laminate into contact with the aqueous solution in such a manner that the second surface is immersed in the aqueous solution after the step (a); a step (c) of applying a voltage difference between an anode electrode and the laminate under an atmosphere of the inert gas to form a Zn layer on the second surface after the step (b); and a step (d) of exposing the Zn layer to oxygen so as to convert the Zn layer into a ZnO crystalline layer after the step (c). | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140120656 | FABRICATION METHOD OF INVERTED SOLAR CELLS - A fabrication method for an inverted solar cell includes: (1) providing a growth substrate; (2) depositing a SiO | 05-01-2014 |
| 20140147958 | ATOMIC LAYER DEPOSITION FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES - A photovoltaic device and method include a substrate, a conductive layer formed on the substrate and an absorber layer formed on the conductive layer from a Cu—Zn—Sn containing chalcogenide material. An emitter layer is formed on the absorber layer and a buffer layer is formed on the emitter layer including an atomic layer deposition (ALD) layer. A transparent conductor layer is formed on the buffer layer. | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140220727 | Methods of Making Photovoltaic Devices - A method of making a photovoltaic device is presented. The method includes disposing an absorber layer on a window layer. The method further includes treating at least a portion of the absorber layer with a first solution including a first metal salt to form a first component, wherein the first metal salt comprises a first metal selected from the group consisting of manganese, cobalt, chromium, zinc, indium, tungsten, molybdenum, and combinations thereof. The method further includes treating at least a portion of the first component with cadmium chloride to form a second component. The method further includes treating at least a portion of the second component with a second solution including a second metal salt to form an interfacial layer on the second component, wherein the second metal salt comprises a second metal selected from the group consisting of manganese, cobalt, nickel, zinc, and combinations thereof. | 08-07-2014 |
| 20140242746 | ELECTRODE FORMATION FOR HETEROJUNCTION SOLAR CELLS - A method for forming a photovoltaic device includes forming a doped layer on a crystalline substrate, the doped layer having an opposite dopant conductivity as the substrate. A non-crystalline transparent conductive electrode (TCE) layer is formed on the doped layer at a temperature less than 150 degrees Celsius. The TCE layer is flash annealed to crystallize material of the TCE layer at a temperature above about 150 degrees Celsius for less than 10 seconds. | 08-28-2014 |
| 20140273334 | METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICE - A method to improve CdTe-based photovoltaic device efficiency is disclosed, the method including steps for removing surface contaminants from a semiconductor absorber layer prior to the deposition or formation of a back contact layer on the semiconductor absorber layer, the surface contaminants removed using at least one of a dry etching process and a wet etching process. | 09-18-2014 |
| 20140308773 | METHOD OF FABRICATING HETEROJUNCTION BATTERY - The present invention discloses a method of fabricating a heterojunction battery, comprising the steps of: depositing a first amorphous silicon intrinsic layer on the front of an n-type silicon wafer, wherein the n-type silicon wafer may be a monocrystal or polycrystal silicon wafer; depositing an amorphous silicon p layer on the first amorphous silicon intrinsic layer; depositing a first boron doped zinc oxide thin film on the amorphous silicon p layer; forming a back electrode and an Al-back surface field on the back of the n-type silicon wafer; and forming a positive electrode on the front of the silicon wafer. In addition, the present invention further discloses a method of fabricating a double-sided heterojunction battery. In the present invention, the boron doped zinc oxide is used as an anti-reflection film in place of an ITO thin film; due to the special nature, especially the light trapping effect of the boron doped zinc oxide, the boron doped zinc oxide can achieve good anti-reflection. Therefore, the step of texturization is removed and the fabrication process simplified. As polycrystal silicon texturization is more challenging, the present invention is of more significance to heterojunction batteries using a polycrystal silicon wafer. | 10-16-2014 |
| 20140315347 | Scalable Multi-Role Surface-Wave Plasma Generator - Systems and methods are described herein for generating surface-wave plasmas capable of simultaneously achieving high density with low temperature and planar scalability. A key feature of the invention is reduced damage to objects in contact with the plasma due to the lack of an RF bias; allowing for damage free processing. The preferred embodiment is an all-in-one processing reactor suitable for photovoltaic cell manufacturing, performing saw-damage removal, oxide stripping, deposition, doping and formation of heterostructures. The invention is scalable for atomic-layer deposition, etching, and other surface interaction processes. | 10-23-2014 |
| 20140315348 | THIN FILM SOLAR CELL - A thin-film solar cell which uses an InS-based buffer layer is produced by forming a metal back electrode layer on a substrate, forming a p-type light absorption layer on the metal back electrode layer, oxidizing the p-type light absorption layer surface, forming an InS-based buffer layer as an n-type high resistance buffer layer on the oxidized p-type light absorption layer, and forming an n-type transparent conductive film on the InS-based buffer layer. | 10-23-2014 |
| 20140370647 | Polycrystalline CDTE Thin Film Semiconductor Photovoltaic Cell Structures for Use in Solar Electricity Generation - Solar cell structures formed using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) that can achieve improved power efficiencies in relation to prior art thin film solar cell structures are provided. A reverse p-n junction solar cell device and methods for forming the reverse p-n junction solar cell device using MBE are described. A variety of n-p junction and reverse p-n junction solar cell devices and related methods of manufacturing are provided. N-intrinsic-p junction and reverse p-intrinsic-n junction solar cell devices are also described. | 12-18-2014 |
| 20140370648 | HETEROJUNCTION SUBCELLS IN INVERTED METAMORPHIC MULTIJUNCTION SOLAR CELLS - Inverted metamorphic multijunction solar cells having a heterojunction middle subcell and a graded interlayer, and methods of making same, are disclosed herein. The present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a solar cell using an MOCVD process, wherein the graded interlayer is composed of (In | 12-18-2014 |
| 20150017755 | Method for fabricating Cu-In-Ga-Se Film Solar Cell - A method for fabricating a Cu—In—Ga—Se film solar cell is provided. The method comprises: a) fabricating a molybdenum back electrode on a substrate; b) fabricating a Cu—In—Ga—Se absorbing layer on the molybdenum back electrode; c) performing an annealing; d) fabricating an In2Se3 or ZnS buffer layer on the Cu—In—Ga—Se absorbing layer; e) fabricating an intrinsic zinc oxide high impedance layer; f) fabricating an indium tin oxide film low impedance layer on the intrinsic zinc oxide high impedance layer; g) fabricating an aluminum electrode on the indium tin oxide film low impedance layer. | 01-15-2015 |
| 20150037925 | METHOD OF FABRICATING A SUPERLATTICE STRUCTURE - A method of fabricating a superlattice structure requires that atoms of a first III-V semiconductor compound be introduced into a vacuum chamber such that the atoms are deposited uniformly on a substrate. Atoms of at least one additional III-V compound are also introduced such that the atoms of the two III-V compounds form a repeating superlattice structure of alternating thin layers. Atoms of a surfactant are also introduced into the vacuum chamber while the III-V semiconductor compounds are being introduced, or immediately thereafter, such that the surfactant atoms act to improve the quality of the resulting SL structure. The surfactant is preferably bismuth, and the III-V semiconductor compounds are preferably GaSb along with either InAs or InAsSb; atoms of each material are preferably introduced using molecular beam epitaxy. The resulting superlattice structure is suitably used to form at least a portion of an IR photodetector. | 02-05-2015 |
| 20150037926 | Apparatus and Methods for Continuous Flow Synthesis of Semiconductor Nanowires - Apparatuses and methods for synthesizing nanoscale materials are provided, including semiconductor nanowires. Precursor solutions include mixed reagent precursor solutions of metal and chalcogenide precursors and a catalyst, where such solutions are liquid at room temperature. The precursor solutions are mixed by dividing a solution flow into multiple paths and converging the paths to form a uniform solution. A thermally controlled reactor receives the uniform solution to form semiconductor nanowires. Various electronic, optical, and sensory devices may employ the semiconductor nanowires described herein, for example. | 02-05-2015 |
| 20150072466 | Doping An Absorber Layer Of A Photovoltaic Device Via Diffusion From A Window Layer - Methods for doping an absorbent layer of a p-n heterojunction in a thin film photovoltaic device are provided. The method can include depositing a window layer on a transparent substrate, where the window layer includes at least one dopant (e.g., copper). A p-n heterojunction can be formed on the window layer, with the p-n heterojunction including a photovoltaic material (e.g., cadmium telluride) in an absorber layer. The dopant can then be diffused from the window layer into the absorber layer (e.g., via annealing). | 03-12-2015 |
| 20150380601 | PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES INCLUDING NITROGEN-CONTAINING METAL CONTACT - A photovoltaic cell can include a nitrogen-containing metal layer in contact with a semiconductor layer. | 12-31-2015 |
| 20160099375 | SOLAR CELL HAVING DOPED BUFFER LAYER AND METHOD OF FABRICATING THE SOLAR CELL - A method includes: forming a buffer layer over an absorber layer of a photovoltaic device; and extrinsically doping the buffer layer after the forming step. | 04-07-2016 |
| 20160104808 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE P-N JUNCTION OF A THIN-FILM PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL AND CORRESPONDING METHOD FOR PRODUCING A PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL - A method for producing a P-N junction in a thin film photovoltaic cell comprising a deposition step in which are carried out successively: a layer of precursors of a photovoltaic material of type P or N, a barrier layer and a layer of precursors of a semiconducting material of type N or P, this deposition step being followed by an annealing step carried out with a supply of S and/or Se, this annealing step leading to the formation of an absorbing layer of the type P or N and of a buffer layer of type N or P and of a P-N junction at the interface between said layers. | 04-14-2016 |
| 20160126398 | PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES INCLUDING DOPED SEMICONDUCTOR FILMS - A photovoltaic cell can include a dopant in contact with a semiconductor layer. | 05-05-2016 |
| 20160141441 | CONTROL OF COMPOSITION PROFILES IN ANNEALED CIGS ABSORBERS - Particular embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the use of sputtering, and more particularly magnetron sputtering, in forming absorber structures, and particular multilayer absorber structures, that are subsequently annealed to obtain desired composition profiles across the absorber structures for use in photovoltaic devices. | 05-19-2016 |
| 20160149069 | METHOD OF MANUFACTURE OF CHALCOGENIDE-BASED PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS - The invention is a method of forming a cadmium sulfide based buffer on a copper chalcogenide based absorber in making a photovoltaic cell. The buffer is sputtered at relatively high pressures. The resulting cell has good efficiency and according to one embodiment is characterized by a narrow interface between the absorber and buffer layers. The buffer is further characterized according to a second embodiment by a relatively high oxygen content. | 05-26-2016 |
| 20160155880 | LIGHT-RECEIVING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE SAME | 06-02-2016 |
| 20160172530 | METHOD FOR PRODUCING SEMICONDUCTOR LIGHT RECEIVING DEVICE | 06-16-2016 |
| 20160197226 | METHOD AND APPARATUS PROVIDING SINGLE STEP VAPOR CHLORIDE TREATMENT AND PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES | 07-07-2016 |
| 20160380145 | METHODS OF FORMING HIGH-EFFICIENCY SOLAR CELL STRUCTURES - Methods for forming solar cells include forming, over a substrate, a first junction comprising at least one III-V material and having a threading dislocation density of less than approximately 10 | 12-29-2016 |
| 20190148571 | Photovoltaic Devices Including Nitrogen-Containing Metal Contact | 05-16-2019 |
