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US 4,388,483 AGranted
Thin film heterojunction photovoltaic cells and methods of making the same
AssigneeMonosolar, Inc.
InventorsBulent M. Basol, Eric S. Tseng, Robert L. Rod
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AssigneeMonosolar, Inc.
InventorsBulent M. Basol, Eric S. Tseng, Robert L. Rod
Estimating the term…
A method of fabricating a thin film heterojunction photovoltaic cell which comprises depositing a film of a near intrinsic or n-type semiconductor compound formed of at least one of the metal elements of Class II B of the Periodic Table of Elements and at least tellurium and then heating said film at a temperature between about 250.degree. C. and 500.degree. C. for a time sufficient to convert said film to a suitably low resistivity p-type semiconductor compound. Such film may be deposited initially on the surface of an n-type semiconductor substrate. Alternatively, there may be deposited on the converted film a layer of n-type semiconductor compound different from the film semiconductor compound. The resulting photovoltaic cell exhibits a substantially increased power output over similar cells not subjected to the method of the present invention.
A method of fabricating a thin film heterojunction photovoltaic cell comprising:
A method of fabricating a thin film heterojunction photovoltaic cell comprising:
A thin film heterojunction photovoltaic cell formed by (a) electrodepositing a layer of a thickness of about 0.02 to 0.05 microns of a semiconductor compound formed of at least one of the metal elements of Class II B and one of the non-metal elements of Class VI A of the Periodic Table of Elements, (b) electrodepositing on said layer a film of a near intrinsic or n-type semiconductor compound different from the layer semiconductor compound and formed of at least one of the metal elements of Class II B of the Periodic Table of Elements and at least tellurium and (c) heating said film at a temperature between about 250.degree. and 500.degree. C. for a time sufficient to convert said film to a suitably low-resistivity p-type semiconductor compound.
A thin film heterojunction photovoltaic cell formed by (a) electrodepositing a film of a near intrinsic or n-type semiconductor compound formed of at least one of the metal elements of Class II B of the Periodic Table of Elements and at least tellurium, (b) heating said film at a temperature between about 250.degree. and 500.degree. C. for a time sufficient to convert said film to a suitably low resistivity p-type semiconductor compound, and (c) electrodepositing on said film a layer of a thickness of about 0.02 to 0.05 microns of a semiconductor compound formed of at least one of the metal elements of Class II B and one of the non-metal elements of Class VI A of the Periodic Table of Elements.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.