US 11,749,770 B2
True hot-carrier solar cell and hot-carrier transfer
David Ferry, Scottsdale, AZ (US); Vincent Whiteside, Buffalo, NY (US); and Ian R. Sellers, Norman, OK (US)
Assigned to Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of Arizona State University, Scottsdale, AZ (US); and The Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (US)
Appl. No. 17/285,360
Filed by ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS ON BEHALF OF ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY, Scottsdale, AZ (US); and The Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (US)
PCT Filed Oct. 14, 2019, PCT No. PCT/US2019/056091
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 14, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/081441, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 23, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/745,836, filed on Oct. 15, 2018.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/746,645, filed on Oct. 17, 2018.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/756,224, filed on Nov. 6, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0359151 A1, Nov. 18, 2021
Int. Cl. H01L 31/0735 (2012.01)
CPC H01L 31/0735 (2013.01) 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A photovoltaic device comprising:
a growth substrate;
a heavily-doped p-type layer deposited on the growth substrate, wherein the p-type layer is doped at a dopant concentration greater than 1018 cm−3, wherein the p-type layer comprises an aluminum arsenic antimonide (AlAsSb) or an indium aluminum arsenide (InAlAs);
a lightly-doped n-type absorption layer deposited over the p-type layer and comprising a band structure that substantially matches the solar spectrum and comprising a plurality of valleys, wherein the absorption layer is doped at a dopant concentration of less than 1016 cm−3, wherein the absorption layer comprises an indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) or an InAlAs;
a heavily-doped n-type carrier-collector layer deposited over the lightly-doped n-type absorption layer, wherein the carrier-collector layer is doped at a dopant concentration greater than 1018 cm−3, wherein the carrier-collector layer comprises an AlAsSb or an InAlAs and has a thickness less than a thickness of the absorption layer, wherein the carrier-collector layer further comprises a conduction band having a bottom, and wherein the bottom is substantially equal to an energy level of at least one upper valley of the plurality of valleys; and
a contact layer comprising a degenerate semiconductor material deposited on a surface of the carrier-collector layer, wherein the absorption layer has a thickness in a range of about 180 nanometers (nm) to about 220 nm.