# US 12,191,410 B2 · Multijunction solar cells and multicolor photodetectors having an integrated edge filter

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- Number: US 12,191,410 B2
- Document ID: US12191410B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/272,147
- Filed: 2019-08-28
- Published: 2021-10-21
- Granted: 2025-01-07
- Earliest claimed: 2018-08-30
- Assignees: Cactus Materials, Inc.
- Applicants: Cactus Materials, Inc.
- Inventors: Ding Ding; Philip Dowd
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12191410B2

## CPC

- H10F 39/806: {Optical elements or arrangements associated with the image sensors}
- H10F 77/413: {directly associated or integrated with the devices, e.g. back reflectors (directly associated or integrated with photovoltaic cells H10F77/42)}
- G02B 5/207: {comprising semiconducting materials}
- H10F 10/142: comprising multiple PN homojunctions, e.g. tandem cells
- H10F 10/1425: {Inverted metamorphic multi-junction [IMM] photovoltaic cells}
- H10F 10/144: comprising only Group III-V materials, e.g. GaAs,AlGaAs, or InP photovoltaic cells
- H10F 10/161: comprising multiple PN heterojunctions, e.g. tandem cells
- H10F 77/124: comprising only Group III-V materials, e.g. GaAs
- H10F 77/12485: {comprising nitride compounds, e.g. InGaN}
- H10F 77/488: {Reflecting light-concentrating means, e.g. parabolic mirrors or concentrators using total internal reflection}
- H10F 77/492: {Spectrum-splitting means, e.g. dichroic mirrors}
- Y02E 10/52: PV systems with concentrators
- Y02E 10/544: Solar cells from Group III-V materials
- H10F: INORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES SENSITIVE TO INFRARED RADIATION, LIGHT, ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION OF SHORTER WAVELENGTH OR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION

## Abstract

Semiconductor devices comprising a semiconductor edge filter, a first light absorbing region overlying the semiconductor edge filter and a second light absorbing region underlying the semiconductor edge filter are disclosed. The semiconductor edge filter has a high reflectivity over a first wavelength range absorbed by the overlying light absorbing region and a high transmission over a second wavelength range absorbed by the underlying light absorbing region.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A semiconductor structure comprising:
a semiconductor edge filter comprising a plurality of layers, wherein: each layer of the plurality of layers has a non-periodic optical thickness, a plurality of layer pairs are formed by the plurality of layers, the optical thickness of each layer pair of the plurality of layer pairs is different from the optical thickness of its adjacent layer pairs of the plurality of layer pairs, and adjacent layers of each layer pair of the plurality of layer pairs are characterized by a different refractive index;
a first light absorbing region overlying the semiconductor edge filter having a first bandgap and a first absorption spectrum; and
a second light absorbing region underlying the semiconductor edge filter having a second bandgap and a second absorption spectrum.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor edge filter is configured to reflect light at wavelengths that can be absorbed by the first light absorbing region.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor edge filter is configured to transmit light at wavelengths that can be absorbed by the second light absorbing region.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the first light absorbing region is characterized by a band gap within a range from 0.7 eV to 1.3 eV.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the second light absorbing region is characterized by a band gap smaller than the bandgap for the first light absorbing region.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor edge filter is characterized by a long-wavelength cutoff within 25 nm of the absorption edge of the first light absorbing layer.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor edge filter is characterized by a long-wavelength cutoff within a range from 900 nm (1.378 eV) to 1,400 nm (0.885 eV), from 900 nm (1.378 eV) to 1,300 nm (0.954 eV), from 900 nm (1.378 eV) to 1,200 nm (1.033 eV), or from 1000 nm (1.240 eV) to 1,150 nm (1.078 eV).

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the first light absorbing region is lattice matched to Ge or to GaAs.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the first light absorbing region comprises a dilute nitride material.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The semiconductor structure of claim 9, wherein the first light absorbing region comprises GaInNAsSb, GaInNAsBi, or GaInNAsSbBi.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The semiconductor structure of claim 9, wherein the first light absorbing region comprises Ga1-xInxNyAS1-y-zSbz, where x, y and z fall within the ranges 0≤x≤0.4, 0<y≤0.1 and 0<z≤0.2.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor edge filter is configured to provide a normal reflectivity greater than 90% over a first wavelength range, and a normal transmissivity greater than 95% over a second wavelength range.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The semiconductor structure of claim 12, wherein a full-width-half-maximum for the reflectivity of the first wavelength range is greater than 100 nm.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The semiconductor structure of claim 13, wherein the second wavelength range is at wavelengths longer than the first wavelength range and wherein the second wavelength range is greater than 500 nm.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein each layer has a different non-periodic optical thickness between about 5 nm and 1,300 nm, or between about 10 nm and 1,000 nm, or between about 5 nm and 250 nm.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor edge filter comprises from 40 to 200 layers forming from 20 to 100 layer pairs.