| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20100109047 | Multijunction rare earth solar cell - Examples of device structures utilizing layers of rare earth oxides to perform the tasks of strain engineering in transitioning between semiconductor layers of different composition and/or lattice orientation and size are given. A structure comprising a plurality of semiconductor layers separated by transition layer(s) comprising two or more rare earth compounds operable as a sink for structural defects is disclosed. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100116315 | Active rare earth tandem solar cell - The use of rare-earth (RE and O, N, P) based materials to transition between two different semiconductor materials and enable up and/or down conversion of incident radiation is disclosed. Rare earth based oxides, nitrides and phosphides provide a wide range of lattice spacing enabling, compressive, tensile or stress-free lattice matching with Group IV, III-V, and Group II-VI compounds. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100122720 | Passive Rare Earth Tandem Solar Cell - The use of rare-earth (RE+O, N, P) based materials to transition between two semiconductor materials is disclosed. Rare earth based oxides, nitrides and phosphides provide a wide range of lattice spacings enabling, compressive, tensile or stress-free lattice matching with Group IV, III-V, and Group II-VI compounds. Disclosed embodiments include tandem solar cells. | 05-20-2010 |
| 20110278464 | RADIATION DETECTOR AND FABRICATION PROCESS - A monolithic integrated radiation detector includes a photodetector and a scintillator deposited directly on the photodetector. Preferably the photodetector is silicon and the scintillator is a rare earth phosphor. The rare earth phosphor is crystal lattice matched to the silicon by a transitional layer epitaxially grown therebetween. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110290313 | SOLAR CELLS WITH ENGINEERED SPECTRAL CONVERSION - A solar cell with engineered spectral conversion elements or components includes a single crystal silicon solar cell having a back surface. At least one spectral conversion element is formed on the back surface. The conversion element includes single crystal rare earth oxide, and the single crystal rare earth oxide is crystal lattice matched to the back surface of the silicon solar cell. Material including silicon is formed on the back surface in a surrounding and embedding relationship to the at least one spectral conversion element. A back reflector is positioned on the material formed on the back surface so as to reflect light passing through the silicon formed on the back surface. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20120019902 | INTERGRATED PUMP LASER AND RARE EARTH WAVEGUIDE AMPLIFIER - A light amplifier includes a single crystal semiconductor substrate with a rare earth oxide, light amplifying gain medium deposited on the substrate and formed into a light waveguide, and a pump laser. A lattice matching virtual substrate integrates the pump laser to the gain medium with a first opposed surface crystal lattice matched to the gain medium and second opposed surface crystal lattice matched to the pump laser. The pump laser is positioned with a light output surface coupled to a light input surface of the gain medium so as to introduce pump energy into the light waveguide. The light amplifier has a very small footprint and allows the integration of control and monitoring electronics. | 01-26-2012 |
| 20120073648 | Photovoltaic conversion using rare earths plus Group IV Sensitizers - The invention relates to photovoltaic device structures of more than one layer comprising rare earth compounds and Group IV materials enabling spectral harvesting outside the conventional absorption limits for silicon. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120085399 | REO-Ge Multi-Junction Solar Cell - The invention relates to a semiconductor based structure for a device for converting radiation to electrical energy comprising various combinations of rare-earths and Group IV, III-V, and II-VI semiconductors and alloys thereof enabling enhanced performance including high radiation conversion efficiency. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120090672 | REO-Ge Multi-Junction Solar Cell - The invention relates to a semiconductor based structure for a device for converting radiation to electrical energy comprising various combinations of rare-earths and Group IV, III-V, and II-VI semiconductors and alloys thereof enabling enhanced performance including high radiation conversion efficiency. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120145243 | SOLAR CELLS WITH MAGNETICALLY ENHANCED UP-CONVERSION - A method of magnetically enhancing up-conversion components includes providing at least one of up-conversion material and sensitizer material (i.e. up-conversion components), generally in conjunction with a semiconductor solar cell, and positioning magnetic apparatus adjacent the up-conversion components to supply a magnetic field to the up-conversion components. The magnetic field has an intensity and direction selected to enhance operation of the up-conversion components. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120147906 | LASER COOLING OF MODIFIED SOI WAFER - A laser cooling system includes a substrate, an REO layer of single crystal rare earth oxide including at least one rare earth element positioned on the surface of the substrate, and an active layer of single crystal semiconductor material positioned on the REO layer to form a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) device. Light guiding structure is at least partially formed by the REO layer so as to introduce energy elements into the REO layer and produce cooling by anti-Stokes fluorescence. The active layer of single crystal semiconductor material is positioned on the REO layer in proximity to the light guiding structure so as to receive the cooling. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120256232 | Multilayer Rare Earth Device - Examples of device structures utilizing layers of rare earth oxides to perform the tasks of strain engineering in transitioning between semiconductor layers of different composition and/or lattice orientation and size are given. A structure comprising a plurality of semiconductor layers separated by transition layer(s) comprising two or more rare earth compounds operable as a sink for structural defects is disclosed. | 10-11-2012 |
| 20140357014 | HIGH EFFICIENCY SOLAR CELL USING IIIB MATERIAL TRANSITION LAYERS - A solar cell including a base of single crystal silicon with a cubic crystal structure and a single crystal layer of a second material with a higher bandgap than the bandgap of silicon. First and second single crystal transition layers are positioned in overlying relationship with the layers graduated from a cubic crystal structure at one surface to a hexagonal crystal structure at an opposed surface. The first and second transition layers are positioned between the base and the layer of second material with the one surface lattice matched to the base and the opposed surface lattice matched to the layer of second material. | 12-04-2014 |
| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20100038521 | Photovoltaic up conversion and down conversion using rare earths - The use of rare-earth (REO, N, P) based materials to covert long wavelength photons to shorter wavelength photons that can be absorbed in a photovoltaic device (up-conversion) and (REO, N, P) materials which can absorb a short wavelength photon and re-emit one (downshifting) or more longer wavelength photons is disclosed. The wide spectral range of sunlight overlaps with a multitude of energy transitions in rare-earth materials, thus offering multiple up-conversion pathways. The refractive index contrast of rare-earth materials with silicon enables a DBR with >90% peak reflectivity and a stop band greater than 150 nm. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100038541 | Monolithicallly integrated IR imaging using rare-earth up conversion materials - Infrared imaging at wavelengths longer than the silicon bandgap energy (>1100 nm) typically require expensive focal plane arrays fabricated from compound semiconductors (InSb or HgCdTe) or use of slower silicon microbolometer technology. Furthermore, these technologies are available in relatively small array sizes, whereas silicon focal plane arrays are easily available with 10 megapixels or more array size. A new technique is disclosed to up convert infrared light to wavelengths detectable by silicon focal plane arrays, or other detector technologies, thereby enabling a low-cost, high pixel count infrared imaging system. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20120104443 | IIIOxNy ON SINGLE CRYSTAL SOI SUBSTRATE AND III n GROWTH PLATFORM - A silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate structure and method of fabrication including a single crystal silicon substrate, a layer of single crystal rare earth oxide formed on the substrate, a layer of engineered single crystal silicon formed on the layer of single crystal rare earth oxide, and a single crystal insulator layer of IIIO | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120104567 | IIIOxNy ON REO/Si - An insulative layer on a semiconductor substrate and a method of fabricating the structure includes the steps of depositing a single crystal layer of rare earth oxide on a semiconductor substrate to provide electrical insulation and thermal management. The rare earth oxide is crystal lattice matched to the substrate. A layer of single crystal IIIO | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120183767 | HEXAGONAL REO TEMPLATE BUFFER FOR III-N LAYERS ON SILICON - A III-N on silicon structure including a substrate of single crystal silicon with a cubic crystal structure and a layer of single crystal III-N material. First and second single crystal transition layers are positioned in overlying relationship with the layers graduated from a cubic crystal structure at one surface to a hexagonal crystal structure at an opposed surface. The first and second transition layers are positioned between the substrate and the layer of III-N material with the one surface lattice matched to the substrate and the opposed surface lattice matched to the layer of III-N material. | 07-19-2012 |
| 20120241890 | IR SENSOR USING REO UP-CONVERSION - A pumped sensor system includes a substrate with a first layer formed thereon and doped for a first type conduction and a second layer doped for a second type conduction, whereby the first and second layers form a silicon light detector at an up-conversion wavelength. A ternary rare earth oxide is formed on the second layer and crystal lattice matched to the second layer. The oxide is a crystalline bulk oxide with a controlled percentage of an up-conversion component and a majority component. The majority component is insensitive to any of pump, sense, or up-conversion wavelengths and the up-conversion component is selected to produce energy at the up-conversion wavelength in response to receiving energy at the pump and sense wavelengths. The layer of oxide defines a light input area sensitive to a pump wavelength and a light input area sensitive to a sense wavelength. | 09-27-2012 |
| 20120280276 | Single Crystal Ge On Si - A single crystal germanium-on-silicon structure includes a single crystal silicon substrate. A single crystal layer of gadolinium oxide is epitaxially grown on the substrate. The gadolinium oxide has a cubic crystal structure and a lattice spacing approximately equal to the lattice spacing or a multiple of the single crystal silicon. A single crystal layer of lanthanum oxide is epitaxially grown on the gadolinium oxide with a thickness of approximately 12 nm or less. The lanthanum oxide has a lattice spacing approximately equal to the lattice spacing or a multiple of single crystal germanium and a cubic crystal structure approximately similar to the cubic crystal structure of the gadolinium oxide. A single crystal layer of germanium with a (111) crystal orientation is epitaxially grown on the layer of lanthanum oxide. | 11-08-2012 |
| 20130032858 | RARE EARTH OXY-NITRIDE BUFFERED III-N ON SILICON - Rare earth oxy-nitride buffered III-N on silicon includes a silicon substrate with a rare earth oxide (REO) structure, including several REO layers, is deposited on the silicon substrate. A layer of single crystal rare earth oxy-nitride is deposited on the REO structure. The REO structure is stress engineered to approximately crystal lattice match the layer of rare earth oxy-nitride so as to provide a predetermined amount of stress in the layer of rare earth oxy-nitride. A III oxy-nitride structure, including several layers of single crystal rare earth oxy-nitride, is deposited on the layer of rare earth oxy-nitride. A layer of single crystal III-N nitride is deposited on the III oxy-nitride structure. The III oxy-nitride structure is chemically engineered to approximately crystal lattice match the layer of III-N nitride and to transfer the predetermined amount of stress in the layer of rare earth oxy-nitride to the layer of III-N nitride. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130062610 | LATTICE MATCHED CRYSTALLINE REFLECTOR - A virtual substrate structure with a lattice matched crystalline reflector for a light emitting device including a single crystal rare earth oxide layer deposited on a silicon substrate and substantially crystal lattice matched to the silicon substrate. A reflective layer of single crystal electrically conductive material is deposited on the layer of single crystal rare earth oxide and a layer of single crystal semiconductor material is positioned in overlying relationship to the reflective layer and substantially crystal lattice matched to the reflective layer. A single crystal rare earth oxide layer is optionally deposited between the reflective layer and the layer of semiconductor material. | 03-14-2013 |
| 20130069039 | Ge QUANTUM DOTS FOR DISLOCATION ENGINEERING OF III-N ON SILICON - A virtual substrate structure includes a crystalline silicon substrate with a first layer of III-N grown on the silicon substrate. Ge clusters or quantum dots are grown on the first layer of III-N and a second layer of III-N is grown on the Ge clusters or quantum dots and any portions of the first layer of III-N exposed between the Ge clusters or quantum dots. Additional alternating Ge clusters or quantum dots and layers of III-N are grown on the second layer of III-N forming an upper surface of III-N. Generally, the additional alternating layers of Ge clusters or quantum dots and layers of III-N are continued until dislocations in the III-N adjacent the upper surface are substantially eliminated. | 03-21-2013 |
| 20130099357 | STRAIN COMPENSATED REO BUFFER FOR III-N ON SILICON - A method of fabricating a rare earth oxide buffered III-N on silicon wafer including providing a crystalline silicon substrate, depositing a rare earth oxide structure on the silicon substrate including one or more layers of single crystal rare earth oxide, and depositing a layer of single crystal III-N material on the rare earth oxide structure so as to form an interface between the rare earth oxide structure and the layer of single crystal III-N material. The layer of single crystal III-N material produces a tensile stress at the interface and the rare earth oxide structure has a compressive stress at the interface dependent upon a thickness of the rare earth oxide structure. The rare earth oxide structure is grown with a thickness sufficient to provide a compressive stress offsetting at least a portion of the tensile stress at the interface to substantially reduce bowing in the wafer. | 04-25-2013 |
| 20130153918 | REO-Si TEMPLATE WITH INTEGRATED REO LAYERS FOR LIGHT EMISSION - A III-N on silicon LED constructed to emit light in the visible range includes a layer of single crystal III-N with a light emitting diode formed therein and designed to emit light at a first wavelength through a lower surface, a REO-Si template mated to the layer of single crystal III-N and designed to approximately crystal lattice match a silicon substrate, and a light emission layer of rare earth oxide selected to receive and absorb light at the first wavelength, up-convert the absorbed light, and re-emit light at a second wavelength in the visible range. The lower surface of the REO-Si template is either mated to the upper surface of a crystalline silicon substrate with the light emission layer integrated into the REO-Si template or mated to an upper surface of the light emission layer with a lower surface of the light emission layer mated to the crystalline silicon substrate. | 06-20-2013 |
| 20130214282 | III-N ON SILICON USING NANO STRUCTURED INTERFACE LAYER - A method of fabricating a layer of single crystal semiconductor material on a silicon substrate including providing a crystalline silicon substrate and epitaxially depositing a nano structured interface layer on the substrate. The nano structured interface layer has a thickness up to a critical thickness. The method further includes epitaxially depositing a layer of single crystal semiconductor material in overlying relationship to the nano structured interface layer. Preferably, the method includes the nano structured interface layer being a layer of coherently strained nano dots of selected material. The critical thickness of the nano dots includes a thickness up to a thickness at which the nano dots become incoherent. | 08-22-2013 |
| 20130248853 | NUCLEATION OF III-N ON REO TEMPLATES - A method of fabricating a layer of single crystal III-N material on a silicon substrate includes epitaxially growing a REO template on a silicon substrate. The template includes a REO layer adjacent the substrate with a crystal lattice spacing substantially matching the crystal lattice spacing of the substrate and selected to protect the substrate from nitridation. Either a rare earth oxynitride or a rare earth nitride is formed adjacent the upper surface of the template and a layer of single crystal III-N material is epitaxially grown thereon. | 09-26-2013 |
| 20130334536 | SINGLE-CRYSTAL REO BUFFER ON AMORPHOUS SiOx - A method of forming a layer of amorphous silicon oxide positioned between a layer of rare earth oxide and a silicon substrate. The method includes providing a crystalline silicon substrate and depositing a layer of rare earth metal on the silicon substrate in an oxygen deficient ambient at a temperature above approximately 500° C. The rare earth metal forms a layer of rare earth silicide on the substrate. A first layer of rare earth oxide is deposited on the layer of rare earth silicide with a structure and lattice constant substantially similar to the substrate. The structure is annealed in an oxygen ambience to transform the layer of rare earth silicide to a layer of amorphous silicon and an intermediate layer of rare earth oxide between the substrate and the first layer of rare earth oxide. | 12-19-2013 |
| 20140008644 | OXYGEN ENGINEERED SINGLE-CRYSTAL REO TEMPLATE - A method of forming a template on a silicon substrate includes epitaxially growing a template of single crystal ternary rare earth oxide on a silicon substrate and epitaxially growing a single crystal semiconductor active layer on the template. The active layer has either a cubic or a hexagonal crystal structure. During the epitaxial growth of the template, a partial pressure of oxygen is selected and a ratio of metals included in the ternary rare earth oxide is selected to match crystal spacing and structure of the template at a lower interface to the substrate and to match crystal spacing and structure of the template at an upper interface to crystal spacing and structure of the semiconductor active layer. A high oxygen partial pressure during growth of the template produces a stabilized cubic crystal structure and a low oxygen partial pressure produces a predominant peak with a hexagonal crystal structure. | 01-09-2014 |
| 20140077240 | IV MATERIAL PHOTONIC DEVICE ON DBR - A photonic structure including a substrate of either crystalline silicon or germanium and a multilayer distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) positioned on the substrate. The DBR includes material substantially crystal lattice matching the DBR to the substrate. The DBR includes a plurality of pairs of layers of material including any combination of IV materials and any rare earth oxide (REO). A photonic device including multilayers of single crystal IV material positioned on the DBR and including material substantially crystal lattice matching the DBR to the photonic device. | 03-20-2014 |
| 20140167057 | REO/ALO/AlN TEMPLATE FOR III-N MATERIAL GROWTH ON SILICON - A method of forming a template on a silicon substrate includes providing a single crystal silicon substrate. The method further includes epitaxially depositing a layer of rare earth oxide on the surface of the silicon substrate. The rare earth oxide being substantially crystal lattice matched to the surface of the silicon substrate. The method further includes forming an aluminum oxide layer on the rare earth oxide, the aluminum oxide being substantially crystal lattice matched to the surface of the rare earth oxide and epitaxially depositing a layer of aluminum nitride (AlN) on the aluminum oxide layer substantially crystal lattice matched to the surface of the aluminum oxide. | 06-19-2014 |
| 20140231817 | III-N MATERIAL GROWN ON ALO/ALN BUFFER ON SI SUBSTRATE - III-N material grown on a silicon substrate includes a single crystal buffer positioned on a silicon substrate. The buffer is substantially crystal lattice matched to the surface of the silicon substrate and includes aluminum oxynitride adjacent the substrate and aluminum nitride adjacent the upper surface. A first layer of III-N material is positioned on the upper surface of the buffer. An inter-layer of aluminum nitride (AlN) is positioned on the first III-N layer and an additional layer of III-N material is positioned on the inter-layer. The inter-layer of aluminum nitride and the additional layer of III-N material are repeated n-times to reduce or engineer strain in a final III-N layer. | 08-21-2014 |
| 20140231818 | AlN CAP GROWN ON GaN/REO/SILICON SUBSTRATE STRUCTURE - III-N material grown on a silicon substrate includes a single crystal rare earth oxide layer positioned on a silicon substrate. The rare earth oxide is substantially crystal lattice matched to the surface of the silicon substrate. A first layer of III-N material is positioned on the surface of the rare earth oxide layer. An inter-layer of aluminum nitride (AlN) is positioned on the surface of the first layer of III-N material and an additional layer of III-N material is positioned on the surface of the inter-layer of aluminum nitride. The inter-layer of aluminum nitride and the additional layer of III-N material are repeated n-times to reduce or engineer strain in a final III-N layer. A cap layer of AlN is grown on the final III-N layer and a III-N layer of material with one of an LED structure and an HEMT structure is grown on the AlN cap layer. | 08-21-2014 |
| 20140239307 | REO GATE DIELECTRIC FOR III-N DEVICE ON Si SUBSTRATE - A rare earth oxide gate dielectric on III-N material grown on a silicon substrate includes a single crystal stress compensating template positioned on a silicon substrate. The stress compensating template is substantially crystal lattice matched to the surface of the silicon substrate. A GaN structure is positioned on the surface of the stress compensating template and substantially crystal lattice matched thereto. An active layer of single crystal III-N material is grown on the GaN structure and substantially crystal lattice matched thereto. A single crystal rare earth oxide dielectric layer is grown on the active layer of III-N material. | 08-28-2014 |
| 20140246679 | III-N MATERIAL GROWN ON ErAlN BUFFER ON Si SUBSTRATE - III-N material grown on a buffer on a silicon substrate includes a single crystal electrically insulating buffer positioned on a silicon substrate. The single crystal buffer includes rare earth aluminum nitride substantially crystal lattice matched to the surface of the silicon substrate, i.e. a lattice co-incidence between REAlN and Si better than a 5:4 ratio. A layer of single crystal III-N material is positioned on the surface of the buffer and substantially crystal lattice matched to the surface of the buffer. | 09-04-2014 |
| 20150014676 | III-N MATERIAL GROWN ON REN EPITAXIAL BUFFER ON Si SUBSTRATE - A method of growing III-N material on a silicon substrate includes the steps of epitaxially growing a single crystal rare earth oxide on a silicon substrate, epitaxially growing a single crystal rare earth nitride on the single crystal rare earth oxide, and epitaxially growing a layer of single crystal III-N material on the single crystal rare earth nitride. | 01-15-2015 |
| 20150069409 | HETEROSTRUCTURE WITH CARRIER CONCENTRATION ENHANCED BY SINGLE CRYSTAL REO INDUCED STRAINS - A heterostructure grown on a silicon substrate includes a single crystal rare earth oxide template positioned on a silicon substrate, the template being substantially crystal lattice matched to the surface of the silicon substrate. A heterostructure is positioned on the template and defines at least one heterojunction at an interface between a III-N layer and a III-III-N layer. The template and the heterostructure are crystal matched to induce an engineered predetermined tensile strain at the at least one heterojunction. A single crystal rare earth oxide dielectric layer is grown on the heterostructure so as to induce an engineered predetermined compressive stress in the single crystal rare earth oxide dielectric layer and a tensile strain in the III-III-N layer. The tensile strain in the III-III-N layer and the compressive stress in the REO layer combining to induce a piezoelectric field leading to higher carrier concentration in 2DEG at the heterojunction. | 03-12-2015 |
| 20150203990 | REN SEMICONDUCTOR LAYER EPITAXIALLY GROWN ON REAlN/REO BUFFER ON Si SUBSTRATE - Rare earth semiconductor and ferromagnetic material epitaxially grown on a silicon substrate includes a buffer of single crystal epitaxial rare earth/aluminum nitride positioned on a single crystal silicon substrate and a single crystal epitaxial rare earth oxide positioned on the single crystal epitaxial aluminum nitride. A layer of single crystal epitaxial semiconductor and ferromagnetic rare earth nitride is positioned on the buffer. A layer of III-V semiconductive material may be optionally positioned on the rare earth nitride layer. | 07-23-2015 |
| 20150228484 | III-N SEMICONDUCTOR LAYER ON Si SUBSTRATE - A method of growing III-N semiconducting material on a silicon substrate including the steps of growing a layer of epitaxial rare earth oxide on a single crystal silicon substrate and modifying the surface of the layer of epitaxial rare earth oxide with nitrogen plasma. The method further includes the steps of growing a layer of low temperature epitaxial gallium nitride on the modified surface of the layer of epitaxial rare earth oxide and growing a layer of bulk epitaxial III-N semiconductive material on the layer of low temperature epitaxial gallium nitride. | 08-13-2015 |
