GB2483053A - Photoelectric device with a nanoparticle textured layer - Google Patents

Photoelectric device with a nanoparticle textured layer Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2483053A
GB2483053A GB1013864.2A GB201013864A GB2483053A GB 2483053 A GB2483053 A GB 2483053A GB 201013864 A GB201013864 A GB 201013864A GB 2483053 A GB2483053 A GB 2483053A
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layer
nanoparticles
active region
textured
light
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GB201013864D0 (en
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Alistair H Kean
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Mantis Deposition Ltd
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Mantis Deposition Ltd
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Priority to GB1013864.2A priority Critical patent/GB2483053A/en
Publication of GB201013864D0 publication Critical patent/GB201013864D0/en
Priority to PCT/GB2011/051558 priority patent/WO2012022977A1/en
Publication of GB2483053A publication Critical patent/GB2483053A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
    • H01L31/02—Details
    • H01L31/0236—Special surface textures
    • H01L31/02366—Special surface textures of the substrate or of a layer on the substrate, e.g. textured ITO/glass substrate or superstrate, textured polymer layer on glass substrate
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02104—Forming layers
    • H01L21/02365—Forming inorganic semiconducting materials on a substrate
    • H01L21/02518—Deposited layers
    • H01L21/02587—Structure
    • H01L21/0259—Microstructure
    • H01L21/02601—Nanoparticles
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L27/00—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate
    • H01L27/14—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation
    • H01L27/144—Devices controlled by radiation
    • H01L27/146—Imager structures
    • H01L27/148—Charge coupled imagers
    • H01L27/14806—Structural or functional details thereof
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
    • H01L31/02—Details
    • H01L31/0216—Coatings
    • H01L31/02161—Coatings for devices characterised by at least one potential jump barrier or surface barrier
    • H01L31/02167—Coatings for devices characterised by at least one potential jump barrier or surface barrier for solar cells
    • H01L31/02168—Coatings for devices characterised by at least one potential jump barrier or surface barrier for solar cells the coatings being antireflective or having enhancing optical properties for the solar cells
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
    • H01L31/02—Details
    • H01L31/0224—Electrodes
    • H01L31/022408—Electrodes for devices characterised by at least one potential jump barrier or surface barrier
    • H01L31/022425—Electrodes for devices characterised by at least one potential jump barrier or surface barrier for solar cells
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
    • H01L31/02—Details
    • H01L31/0224—Electrodes
    • H01L31/022466—Electrodes made of transparent conductive layers, e.g. TCO, ITO layers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
    • H01L31/02—Details
    • H01L31/0236—Special surface textures
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
    • H01L31/04—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices
    • H01L31/054—Optical elements directly associated or integrated with the PV cell, e.g. light-reflecting means or light-concentrating means
    • H01L31/056—Optical elements directly associated or integrated with the PV cell, e.g. light-reflecting means or light-concentrating means the light-reflecting means being of the back surface reflector [BSR] type
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
    • H01L31/04—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices
    • H01L31/06—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices characterised by potential barriers
    • H01L31/072—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices characterised by potential barriers the potential barriers being only of the PN heterojunction type
    • H01L31/0749—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices characterised by potential barriers the potential barriers being only of the PN heterojunction type including a AIBIIICVI compound, e.g. CdS/CulnSe2 [CIS] heterojunction solar cells
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
    • Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy
    • Y02E10/52—PV systems with concentrators
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
    • Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy
    • Y02E10/541—CuInSe2 material PV cells
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
    • Y02P70/00—Climate change mitigation technologies in the production process for final industrial or consumer products
    • Y02P70/50—Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product

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  • Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
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  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
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  • Crystallography & Structural Chemistry (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
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Abstract

A photoelectric device or a method of manufacturing a photoelectric device 10 e.g. a photovoltaic cell, charge-coupled device or a photodiode comprising a light absorbing active region 16 for detecting incident photons and a textured layer 14 adjacent the active region 16 wherein the textured layer 14 comprises a layer of material (20, fig. 2) upon which is deposited a plurality of nanoparticles (fig. 3) of said material e.g. molybdenum. The textured layer (118, fig. 5) may also be formed of a transparent metal oxide e.g. zinc oxide and be positioned on the active layer (116, fig. 5). The active region 16 material may comprise a compound of copper, indium, gallium and selenium (CIGS) or silicon. The nanoparticles may have diameters in the range of 20-160nm. The nanoparticles may scatter or reflect light into the active region 16 in order to increase the efficiency of photon absorption. A glass or plastic substrate 12 may be located adjacent the textured layer 14.

Description

Photoelectric device
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to photoelectric devices, and in particular relates to photoelectric devices comprising nanoparticles, and methods for producing the same.
BACKGROUND ART
Much effort has been spent on improving the operation of solar cells in recent years. For example, it has been shown that increases in efficiency can be achieved by reducing the amount of reflection that occurs when photons are incident on an active region of the cell. In order to achieve this, anti-reflection coatings are deposited on to the front of the cell, decreasing the likelihood that an incident photon will be reflected away from the active region. In the same way, increasing the reflectivity of the layer behind the active region assists, in that photons which have already passed through the active layer are reflected * back into the active layer. S... * S *
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION * S S.
*. We therefore propose a photoelectric device comprising an active region * for detecting incident photons and (adjacent the active region) a textured layer comprising a layer of material upon which is deposited a plurality of nanoparticles of said material. We have found that such nanoparticles are extremely effective in scattering light into the active region -significantly more so than (for example) texturing the surface by etching or the like. Such etchants tend to follow the metallic grain structure of the reflective material and can be chemically difficult. The scattering increases the average optical path of photons through the active region, increasing the efficiency of the device.
The active region can comprise any conventional photoelectrically active material, such as a compound of copper, indium, gallium and selenium, or various forms of silicon, such as amorphous silicon or microcrystalline silicon.
The material in the textured layer preferably comprises molybdenum or a metal oxide such as zinc oxide. We have found that these materials offer good scattering properties together with ease of production and deposition of the nanoparticles.
A substrate can be provided adjacent the textured layer in order to provide the necessary mechanical support.
The device can be a photovoltaic cell, a charge-coupled device, a photodiode, or any other photoelectric device.
The invention also provides a method of manufacturing a photoelectric device, comprising depositing a layer of material, onto a substrate, dep,ositing a plurality of nanoparticles of the material onto the layer of material, and depositing thereupon a layer of active material for detecting incident photons.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS *. * I ****
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying figures in which; **** * * * Figure 1 shows a cross-section through a photoelectric device according to *.S.
an embodiment of the present invention; Figures 2 to 4 show sequential steps in the manufacture of a device according to figure 1; Figure 5 shows a cross-section through a photoelectric device according to a further embodiment of the present invention; and Figures 6 and 7 show sequential steps in the manufacture of a device shown in figure 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
The present invention provides a photoelectric device in which a layer adjacent the action region is textured by deposition of nanoparticles. In some embodiments the textured layer is a metallic layer positioned "behind" the active layer. The textured metallic layer reflects incident photons backwards through the active layer. In other embodiments, the textured layer is a transparent metal oxide layer positioned "above" the active layer. Incident photons pass through the transparent metal oxide layer, but undergo scattering due to its textured surface.
Figure 1 shows a cross-section of a portion of a photoelectric device 10 according to the first embodiments of the present invention.
The device 10 comprises a substrate 12 to provide the necessary mechahical support. Common materials for the subtrate include glass, sUch as soda-lime glass, in a thickness between 1 and 3 mm. However, plastic substrates may also be used within the scope of the present invention.
* Adjacent the substrate 12 is a textured light-reflective layer 14, to be S...
described in greater detail below. The reflective layer 14 further acts as a back * contact for the device, allowing the current generated in the active region to be *: collected. A suitable material for use in the reflective layer 14 is molybdenum. *.*.
Adjacent the reflective layer 14 is a layer of light-absorbing material 16.
*. : One suitable material well known in the art is a semiconductor material such as S. copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS), with a chemical formula of CuInGa(l_)Se2, where x is a variable in the range of 0 and 1. The light-absorbing layer 16 is also known as the active region, or active layer, as it is the region in which incident photons are absorbed and electron-hole pairs created.
Adjacent the light-absorbing layer 16 is a further layer 18 of doped semiconductor material, which forms a heterojunction with the light-absorbing layer 16. For example, in one embodiment the material in the doped semiconductor layer 18 is n-type zinc oxide (suitable n-type dopants include aluminium and other group III elements). The doping level in the semiconductor layer 18 is much greater than the effective doping level of the light-absorbing layer 16, resulting in a depletion region that extends much further into the light-absorbing layer 16 than the doped semiconductor layer 18. The doped layer 18 may also act as a front contact for the device 10, for current collection.
In the illustrated embodiment, the light-absorbing layer 16 and the doped semiconductor layer 18 are in direct contact. However, they may also be separated by one or more layers of intrinsic semiconductor material (e.g. intrinsic ZnO and/or cadmium sulphide, CdS).
In an embodiment (not illustrated), the device 10 is encapsulated to limit damage from the environment.
In operation, incident photons pass into the device 10 and are absorbed in the light-absorbing layer 16. The absorption of a photon generates an electron-hole pair in the layer 16, with the electrons and holes diffusing in opposite directions under action of the potential gradient across the heterojunction. Hole drift is towards the n-type region (e.g. doped layer 18), and electron drift is towards the p-type region (e.g. light-absorbing layer 16). The charge carriers are ultimately collected by the front and back contacts respectively, and lead to a current being generated. *S* * *.
The reflective layer 14 is known to increase the efficiency of the device 10 by reflecting photons that have already passed through an active region back , towards the active region, thereby increasing the likelihood that the photons will be absorbed. The layer 14 is formed from a light-reflective material, and so will ordinarily increase the efficiency of the device through simple reflection.
However, it has been found that the provision of a textured surface will further increase the likelihood of absorption in the active region. That is, the randomized reflective surface scatters incident photons in directions that are, in general, not normal to the plane of the device 10. Therefore the photons have a longer mean path within the light-absorbing layer 16, leading to increased likelihood of absorption.
According to embodiments of the present invention, the textured layer 14 comprises a relatively smooth layer of light-reflective material, upon which is deposited a number of nanoparticles of the light-reflective material. The nanoparticles serve to "roughen" the surface of the layer 14, providing texture that increases the efficiency of the device 10.
One advantage of using nanoparticles to texture the reflective layer 14 is that the size of the nanoparticles can be specifically adapted to preferentially reflect photons along the plane of the device 10, thus maximizing the mean path of the reflected photons in the active region 16. Such control is not possible using conventional texturing means (e.g. chemical etching mentioned above).
For example, nanoparticles having a diameter in the range of 20 to 160 nm are suitable for this purpose, as they generate plasmons that interact with the incoming normal photons, reflecting them sideways along the plane of the device 10. A method for generating suchnanoparticles is disclosed in our co-pending application entitled "Production of nanoparticles" and filed concurrently herewith, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Figures 2 to 4 show the steps in a method of producing a device 10 according to embodiments of the present invention.
* In Figure 2, a stage is shown in which the device 10 comprises a smooth layer 20 of light-reflecting material deposited on a substrate 12 (for example, * S..
S...' through sputtering). As mentioned previously, the substrate 12 may be glass, *, and the light-reflecting material molybdenum.
In Figure 3, nanoparticles of light-reflecting material have been deposited onto the smooth layer 20. The nanoparticles have a diameter in the range 20 to nm, and are adsorbed onto the surface of the smooth layer 20. Such large-scale nanoparticles result in a textured light-reflecting layer 14 in which the texture is relatively coarse and therefore suitable for reflecting photons at substantial angles to the plane of the device 10.
In Figure 4, a layer of light-absorbing material 16 (e.g. CIGS) has been deposited on top of the textured layer 14. CIGS films can be manufactured by several different methods. The most common vacuum-based process co-evaporates or co-sputters copper, gallium, and indium, then anneals the resulting film with a selenide vapour to form the final CIGS structure. An alternative is to directly co-evaporate copper, gallium, indium and selenium onto a heated substrate.
Finally, the device 10 as shown in Figure 1 is achieved by further depositing a layer of doped semiconductor material (e.g. ZnO(Al)) 18 onto the light-absorbing layer 16. Optionally, one or more layers of intrinsic semiconductor material (e.g. CdS, ZnO) may be deposited prior to this to physically separate the light-absorbing layer 16 and the doped layer 18.
The device 10 described above may form part of a photovoltaic cell, a charge-coupled device, a photodiode, or any other photoelectric device.
Figure 5 shows a cross-section view of a photoelectric device 100 according to second embodiments of the present invention.
The device 100 again comprises a substrate 112 to provide the necessary . mechanical support. Common materials for the substrate include glass, such as * soda-lime glass, in a thickness between 1 and 3 mm. However, plastic :::: substrates may also be used within the scope of the present invention. I..,
Adjacent the substrate 112 is a light-reflective metallic layer 114. The : reflective layer 114 acts as a back contact for the device, allowing the current generated in the active region to be collected. It also reflects incident photons 7...
back through the active layer in order to increase the efficiency of the device. A suitable material for use in the reflective layer 114 is aluminium.
Adjacent the reflective layer 114 is a layer of light-absorbing material 116.
One suitable material well known in the art is amorphous silicon (a-Si).
However, alternative forms of silicon and other light-absorbing materials may also be suitable; microcrystalline silicon is becoming known and is likely to be used more commonly in future.
Adjacent the light-absorbing layer 116 is a layer of transparent conducting oxide (TCO) 118. In one embodiment, the TCO layer is formed from doped semiconductor material, which forms a heterojunction with the light-absorbing layer 116. For example, in one embodiment the material in the doped semiconductor layer 18 is n-type zinc oxide (suitable n-type dopants include aluminium and other group III elements). The TCO layer 118 may also act as a front contact for the device 100, for current collection.
In the illustrated embodiment, the light-absorbing layer 116 and the doped semiconductor layer 118 are in direct contact. However, they may also be separated by one or more layers of intrinsic semiconductor material (e.g. intrinsic ZnO and/or cadmium sulphide, CdS).
According to the second embodiments of the present invention, the TCO layer 118 comprises a relatively smooth layer of metal oxide, upon which is deposited a number of nanoparticles of the metal oxide. The nanoparticles serve to "roughen" the surface of the layer 118, providing texture that increases the efficiency of the device 100. * * S...
Finally, the device 100 is encapsulated by a protective layer of glass 120 (for example) to limit damage from the environment. *5*S * S.
In operation, incident photons pass into the device 100, through the TCO layer 118. Because of the texturing applied to the TCO layer surface the photons are scattered in a direction parallel to the active layer 116, so that their mean optical path is greater and the chances of absorption in the light-absorbing layer 116 are increased. The absorption of a photon generates an electron-hole pair in the layer 116, with the electrons and holes diffusing in opposite directions under action of the potential gradient across the heterojunction. Hole drift is towards the n-type region (e.g. TCO layer 118), and electron drift is towards the p-type region (e.g. light-absorbing layer 116). The charge carriers are ultimately collected by the front and back contacts respectively, and lead to a current being generated.
The reflective layer 114 also increases the efficiency of the device 100 by reflecting photons that have already passed through an active region back towards the active region, thereby increasing the likelihood that the photons will be absorbed. Figures 6 and 7 show the steps in a method of producing a device according to the second embodiments of the present invention.
In Figure 6, a stage is shown in which the device 100 comprises a light-reflective metallic back contact 114, an active layer 116, and a smooth layer 122 of TCO material, all deposited on a substrate 112 (for example, through sputtering).
In Figure 7, nanoparticles of TCO material have been deposited onto the smooth layer 122. The nanoparticles have a diameter in the range 20 to nm, and are adsorbed onto the surface of the smooth layer 122. Such large-scale nanoparticles result in a textured TCO layer 118 in which the texture is relatively coarse and therefore suitable for reflecting photons at substantial angles to the plane of the device 100.
Finally, the device 100 as shown in Figure 5 is achieved by further depositing a layer of glass 120 onto the textured TCO layer 118.
There is thus described a device in which nanoparticles are employed to * texture the surface of a layer adjacent to the active layer. The diameter and :: interactions of the nanoparticles can be controlled so as to preferentially scatter **. incoming light in a direction parallel to the plane of the device, so increasing the **** ::::. likelihood of absorption in the active region of the device.
It will of course be understood that many variations may be made to the above-described embodiment without departing from the scope of the present invention. *IS. * * S... S.... * . * . . S. * *... * S *SS* * S * S� * I. 0 * SO S **

Claims (16)

  1. CLAIMS1. A photoelectric device, comprising: an active region, for detecting incident photons; and adjacent the active region, a textured layer comprising a layer of material upon which is deposited a plurality of nanoparticles of said material.
  2. 2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the active region comprises a compound of copper, indium, gallium and selenium.
  3. 3. A device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the material comprises molybdenum.
  4. 4. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the active region comprises silicon.
  5. 5. A device as claimed in claim 1 or 4, wherein the material comprises a metal oxide.
  6. 6. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the plurality of nanoparticles have diameters in the range of about 20 nm to about 160 nm.
  7. 7., A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a substrate, adjacent the textured layer.
  8. 8. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the device is one of a photovoltaic cell, a charge-coupled device, or a * * I-1- 1 pIuOLOuIOue.*...S.
    *
  9. 9. A method of manufacturing a photoelectric device, comprising: *: depositing a layer of active material, for detecting incident photons, ** and a layer of a second material onto a substrate; and *.** depositing a plurality of nanoparticles of the second material onto the layer of the second material in order to provide a textured surface..
  10. 10. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the active material comprises a compound of copper, indium, gallium and selenium.
  11. 11. A method as claimed in claim 9 or 10, wherein the second material comprises molybdenum.
  12. 12. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the active region comprises silicon.
  13. 13. A method as claimed in claim 9 or 12, wherein the second material comprises a metal oxide.
  14. 14. A method as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 13, wherein the plurality of nanoparticles have diameters in the range of about 20 nm to about 160 nm.
  15. 15. A method as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 14, wherein the layer of active material is deposited on to the textured layer of second material.
  16. 16. A method as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 14, wherein the textured layer of second material is deposited on to the layer of active material. S.. * S *5**SS..... * S *... * * S S. S S... * S *..S *5 S * .. * *S *5 S * . * * *5
GB1013864.2A 2010-08-18 2010-08-18 Photoelectric device with a nanoparticle textured layer Withdrawn GB2483053A (en)

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PCT/GB2011/051558 WO2012022977A1 (en) 2010-08-18 2011-08-18 Photoelectric device

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Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
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WO2008008516A2 (en) * 2006-07-14 2008-01-17 The Regents Of The University Of California Forward scattering nanoparticle enhancement method and photo detector device
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