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US 5,685,919 AGranted
Method and device for improved photoelectric conversion
AssigneeAgency of Industrial Science and Technology
InventorsKazuhiro Saito, Hiroshi Yokoyama, Takashi Wakamatsu
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Abstract
Efficiency of a photoelectric conversion device is increased by inducing a surface plasmon also on a metallic electrode located on the side of the device where light is incident. Incident He-Ne laser light is refracted by a semicylindrical lens and is incident on a magnesium fluoride layer and an Al electrode. The surface plasmon is absorbed by a copper phthalocyanine layer to give a photoelectric current between the Al electrode and an Ag electrode.
Claims19
A method of photoelectric conversion comprising the steps:
- causing light to be incident on an optical transmission layer at a desired angle through an optical path changing layer, the optical transmission layer having a thickness being about a half of the wavelength of the incident light and having a lower refractive index than that of the optical path changing layer, to induce a surface plasmons at the interface between the optical transmission layer and a metallic electrode in intimate contact with the optical transmission layer;
- and
- causing the surface plasmons to be incident on a light absorbing layer to obtain a photoelectric current.
A device for photoelectric conversion, comprising
- two thin metallic electrodes respectively located on the side where light is incident, and on the side opposite to the side of light incidence;
- a light absorbing layer sandwiched between the two thin metallic electrodes;
- and
- an optical transmission layer and an optical path changing layer formed in this order on the metallic electrode located on the side of light incidence, with the adjacent members being in intimate contact with each other;
- wherein
- the optical path changing layer has the function to refract incident light and cause it to be incident on the optical transmission layer at a desired angle, the refractive index of the optical transmission layer is smaller than the refractive index of the optical path changing layer, and the thickness of the optical transmission layer is about a half of the wavelength of the incident light.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.