Patent · US Active

Nanostructured units formed inside a silicon material and the manufacturing process to perform them therein

US9722121B2 · kind B2 · utility

3Cited by
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34Claims
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Key dates

Filing dateMay 13, 2014
Grant dateAug 1, 2017
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 13, 2034

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY02P70/50

Abstract

The invention bears on elementary nanoscale units nanostructured-formed inside a silicon material and the manufacturing process to implement them. Each elementary nanoscale unit is created by means of a limited displacement of two Si atoms outside a crystal elementary unit. A localized nanoscale transformation of the crystalline matter gets an unusual functionality by focusing in it a specific physical effect as is a highly useful additional set of electron energy levels that is optimized for the solar spectrum conversion to electricity. An adjusted energy set allows a low-energy secondary electron generation in a semiconductor, preferentially silicon, material for use especially in very-high efficiency all-silicon light-to-electricity converters. The manufacturing process to create such transformations in a semiconductor material bases on a local energy deposition like ion implantation or electron (γ,X) beam irradiation and suitable thermal treatment and is industrially easily available.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.