Classifications

• • 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
  • H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
  • H01L21/06—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising selenium or tellurium in uncombined form other than as impurities in semiconductor bodies of other materials
  • H01L21/10—Preliminary treatment of the selenium or tellurium, its application to the foundation plate, or the subsequent treatment of the combination
  • H01L21/108—Provision of discrete insulating layers, i.e. non-genetic barrier layers
• • 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
  • H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
  • H01L21/06—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising selenium or tellurium in uncombined form other than as impurities in semiconductor bodies of other materials
  • H01L21/10—Preliminary treatment of the selenium or tellurium, its application to the foundation plate, or the subsequent treatment of the combination
  • H01L21/105—Treatment of the surface of the selenium or tellurium layer after having been made conductive
• • 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
  • H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
  • H01L21/06—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising selenium or tellurium in uncombined form other than as impurities in semiconductor bodies of other materials
  • H01L21/12—Application of an electrode to the exposed surface of the selenium or tellurium after the selenium or tellurium has been applied to the foundation plate

Definitions

• the selenium rectifier elements are subjected during manufacturing to a. treatment which largely eliminates the aforesaid weakness, so that the elements can be formed much more rapidly after the said treatment. Moreoventhe ready-formed elements can endure higher blocking voltages than heretofore.
• a selenium layer is applied to a metal base plate and is then subjected to a combined pressure and heat treatment in order to be transformed into the well-conducting modification.
• a counter-electrode is applied to the free selenium surface, usually by spraying a liquid metal alloy having a low fusing point thereto, but in another a solid counter-electrode only under pressure.
• the treatment according to the present invention consists in supplying to the selenium surface adjacent to the counter-electrode small quantities of thorium or zirconium or of a kindred metal or of a compound containing some of these metals.
• the said metals may be supplied to the selenium surface by condensing their vapors or by cathode sputtering before the counter-electrode is applied. It is also possible to apply a metal by alloying it with the counter-electrode, if the latter is intended to be applied by spraying, but not by mixing it into the selenium, since it seems necessary for a good result of the treatment that the addition 01' the metal is limited to the layer of the selenium immediately adjacent to the counters-electrode.
• a simple and eilicient method of supplying a compound of the aforesaid metals is to dissolve the compound into a solvent and to treat the selenium surface with the solution.
• the solvent should be evaporated before the application of the counter-electrode.
• Water may be used as a solvent, it has not been found especially appropriate, first because the selenium surface is only with a certain difiiculty moistened thereby and also because the water is comparatively slowly evaporated and probably has an unfavorable action in the meantime. Alcohols and other organic solvents have been found more appropriate for these reasons.
• the compound applied should of course be soluble in the solvent employed and should further not contain, besides the desired metal, substances which may have a noisome infiuence.
• the treatment described influences the cur rent-voltage characteristic oi the selenium ele ment in the blocking direction in a very favorable way as regards its operating properties, as has been proved by cathode ray oscillograms.
• the leakage current is rather low up to a certain blocking voltage but is then so rapidly increased that the characteristic curve is practically parallel-to the current modification by applying axis.
• the leakage current rises considerably slower for high blocking voltages. This property together with that of a more rapid forming enables selenium rectifier elements according to the present invention to be employed for higher blocking voltages and makes them less sensitive to incidental overvoltages than elements which have not been treated in the aforesaid manner.
• blocking layer photoelectric cells containing selenium may be regarded. These difler in construction from rectifier elements substantially only in that the counter-electrode is'translucent or transparent. The invention is also applicable to the manufacture of such photoelectric cells.
• selenium rectifier elements in which a selenium layer is applied onto a metallic base, such layer is converted into an electrically conducting state, and a metallic counter-electrode applied over such layer, the step of treating the converted layer before the counter-electrode is applied with a compound of at least one of the metals of the group consisting of zirconium, thorium, hafnium and titanium.
• a selenium rectifier having a base plate, an electrically conducting selenium layer thereon, and a metallic counter-electrode over said layer, said layer having been treated before application of the counter-electrode with a compound of at least one metal selected from the group consisting of zirconium, thorium, hafnium and titanium.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
• Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
• Power Engineering (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Biotechnology (AREA)
• Rectifiers (AREA)
• Photovoltaic Devices (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=20312683

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (1)

Citations (10)

• 0
  • BE BE458445D patent/BE458445A/xx unknown
  • NL NL79203D patent/NL79203C/xx active
• 1945
  • 1945-02-12 GB GB3429/45A patent/GB593808A/en not_active Expired
  • 1945-02-14 FR FR909281D patent/FR909281A/fr not_active Expired
  • 1945-02-27 US US580077A patent/US2458013A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

Patent Citations (10)

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