Disclosed is a photoelectric conversion element for converting light into electric energy, including a first electrode, a second electrode, and at least one organic layer existing therebetween, the organic layer containing a compound represented by the general formula (1): ##STR00001##
wherein R.sup.1 to R.sup.4 are alkyl groups, cycloalkyl groups, alkoxy groups, or arylether groups, which may be respectively the same or different; R.sup.5 and R.sup.6 are halogens, hydrogens, or alkyl groups, which may be respectively the same or different; R.sup.7 is an aryl group, a heteroaryl group, or an alkenyl group; M represents an m-valent metal and is at least one selected from boron, beryllium, magnesium, aluminum, chromium, iron, nickel, copper, zinc, and platinum; L is selected from halogen, hydrogen, an alkyl group, an aryl group, and a heteroaryl group; and m is in a range of 1 to 6 and, when m−1 is 2 or more, each L may be the same or different.

A method for constructing a solar rectenna array by growing carbon nanotube antennas between lines of metal, and subsequently applying a bias voltage on the carbon nanotube antennas to convert the diodes on the tips of the carbon nanotube antennas from metal oxide carbon diodes to geometric diodes. Techniques for preserving the converted diodes by adding additional oxide are also described.

Design and use of photo-switching, fullerene-based dyads of the design x-D-y-A or D-y-A-x as interfacial layers (IFL) for organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices are described herein. The fullerene-based dyads and triads of the present invention contain electron-donating substituents such as porphyrins or phthalocyanines that exhibit charge separation states with long lifetimes upon irradiation, resulting in rejection of electrons reaching the electrode and concurrently promoting the conduction of holes. This phenomenon has a strong rectifying effect on the whole device, not just the interfaces, resulting in improved charge extraction from the interior of the photo-active layer. The invention further describes anchoring an IFL to the ITO surface as a monolayer, bilayer, or greater multilayers. One OPV design embodiment of the present invention embodiment involves the formation of covalent bonds via silane groups (—SiR.sub.3) as the anchor (x), to form siloxane bonds.

The invention relates to a device for detecting electromagnetic radiation, said device comprising at least one row of photoresistors (45), each photoresistor comprising an active portion comprising organic semiconductor materials.

[Problem] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a novel optical functional material in which silver nanoparticles are used. [Solution] According to the present invention, a ternary composite formed by mixing silver nanoparticles, an organic semiconductor, and a clay in a liquid phase is provided. The organic semiconductor is preferably an organic charge-transfer complex, and more preferably a charge-transfer boron polymer. The clay is a layered silicate mineral, and preferably smectite. The present invention also provides an antibacterial agent, a photoelectric converter, and a photosensitive pointing device using the ternary composite.

A polymer based photo-detector has photoresponsivity in Ultraviolet, Visible, Near and Mid Infrared regions. The photo-detector comprises a single layer of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a photoactive layer; with no additional buffer layer for accepting Ultraviolet, Visible and Infrared radiation as well as no buffer layer to block charge carrier injection. The PVA layer's photoresponsivity is extended from Ultraviolet to Near Infrared by changing its nano-morphology on a low thermal device structure. The primarily photo-generated charge carriers diffuse through the amorphous part of the polymer layer and split into charge carriers on the electrodes or by the charge traps in the layer. The charge carrier generation is in the picosecond range; thus the exciton and Polaron drift diffusion cause electrical conduction of the polymer layer under Ultraviolet illumination. The low thermal mass of the MEMS based structure reduces localized heating effect due to Infrared radiation, increasing responsivity of the photo-detector.

A multi-layer apparatus has a transparent or semi-transparent substrate, a solar-cell layer coupled to the substrate, an energy-storage layer coupled to the solar-cell layer, and a converter layer coupled to the energy-storage layer. The solar-cell layer has a plurality of solar cells for receiving light through the substrate and converting energy of the received light to a first electrical energy, the energy-storage layer has one or more energy-storage units for storing a second electrical energy, and the converter layer has one or more power converters electrically connected to the solar-cell layer and the energy-storage layer for receiving the first electrical energy and the second electrical energy therefrom and outputting a third electrical energy via an output thereof.

A display device comprises a display panel and a cover plate stacked with the display panel. An antistatic layer is provided on a side of the cover plate facing toward the display panel. The antistatic layer surrounds a display region (AA) of the display device, and the antistatic layer is grounded. The display device can achieve the antistatic protection function without reducing the light transmittance while meeting the requirement of the narrow bazel display device.

Disubstituted diaryloxybenzoheterodiazole compound of general formula (1): in which:—Z represents a sulfur atom, an oxygen atom, a selenium atom; or an NR.sub.5 group in which R.sub.5 is selected from linear or branched C.sub.1-C.sub.20, preferably C.sub.1-C.sub.8, alkyl groups, or from optionally substituted aryl groups;—R.sub.1, R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are as defined in the claims. The said disubstituted diaryloxybenzoheterodiazole compound of general formula (I) can advantageously be used as a spectrum converter in luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) which are in turn capable of improving the performance of photovoltaic devices (or solar devices) selected, for example, from photovoltaic cells (or solar cells), photovoltaic modules (or solar modules) on either a rigid substrate or a flexible substrate.

##STR00001##

The present invention relates to a photo-electrochemical device for production of a gas, liquid or solid using concentrated electromagnetic irradiation. The device comprises a photovoltaic component configured to generate charge carriers from the concentrated electromagnetic irradiation; and an electrochemical component configured to carry out electrolysis of a reactant. The photovoltaic component contacts the electrochemical component at a solid interface to form an integrated photo-electrochemical device; and further includes at least one reactant channel or a plurality of reactant channels extending between the photovoltaic component and the electrochemical component to transfer heat and the reactant from the photovoltaic component to the electrochemical component. The integrated photo-electrochemical device and auxiliary devices (such as concentrator, flow controllers) build a system which can flexibly react to changes in operating condition and guarantee best performance.