Described herein is a diffusion-based ex-situ group V element doping method in the CdCl.sub.2 heat-treated polycrystalline CdTe film. The ex-situ doping using group V halides, such as PCl.sub.3, AsCl.sub.3, SbCl.sub.3, or BiCl.sub.3, demonstrated a promising PCE of ˜18% and long-term light soaking stability in CdSe/CdTe and CdS/CdTe devices with decent carrier concentration>10.sup.15 cm.sup.−3. This ex-situ solution or vapor process can provide a low-cost alternative pathway for effective doping of As, as well as P, Sb, and Bi, in CdTe solar cells with limited deviation from the current CdTe manufacturing process.

A layer of an n-type chalcogenide compositions provided on a substrate in the presence of an oxidizing gas in an amount sufficient to provide a resistivity to the layer that is less than the resistivity a layer deposited under identical conditions but in the substantial absence of oxygen.

The present invention relates to a method for preparing an aqueous or hydro-alcoholic colloidal solution of metal chalcogenide amorphous nanoparticles notably of the Cu.sub.2ZnSnS.sub.4 (CZTS) type and to the obtained colloidal solution. The present invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a film of large-grain crystallized semi-conducting metal chalcogenide film notably of CZTS obtained from an aqueous or hydro-alcoholic colloidal solution according to the invention, said film being useful as an absorption layer deposited on a substrate applied in a solid photovoltaic device.

An optoelectronic device comprises a substrate; pads on a surface of the substrate; semiconductor elements, each element resting on a pad; a portion covering at least the lateral sides of each pad, the portion preventing the growth of the semiconductor elements on the lateral sides; and a dielectric region extending in the substrate from the surface and connecting, for each pair of pads, one of the pads in the pair to the other pad in the pair. A method of manufacturing an optoelectronic device is also disclosed.

In one embodiment, a method for surface passivation for CdTe devices is provided. The method includes adjusting a stoichiometry of a surface of a CdTe material layer such that the surface becomes at least one of stoichiometric or Cd-rich; and reconstructing a crystalline lattice at the surface of the CdTe material layer by annealing the adjusted surface.

Optically transmissive UV solar cells may be coupled to glass substrates, for example windows, in order to generate electricity while still providing suitable optical behavior for the window. The UV solar cells may be utilized to power electrochromic components coupled to the window to adjust or vary the transmissivity of the window. The UV solar cells may utilize a Schottky ZnO/ZnS heterojunction.

Methods, systems, and apparatus that filters noise within a signal collected by a detector assembly. The detector assembly includes a first semiconductor layer of a first type configured to receive a photon. The detector assembly includes a second semiconductor layer of a second type. The second semiconductor layer is formed above the first semiconductor layer. The first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer are configured to collect a signal. The detector assembly includes an interface layer including an insulator portion for filtering noise. The interface layer is formed on the second semiconductor layer. The detector assembly includes a metal contact layer formed on the interface layer. The interface layer is configured to capacitively couple the first semiconductor layer and second semiconductor layer with the metal contact layer.

Provided are structures and methods for doping polycrystalline thin film semiconductor materials in photovoltaic devices. Embodiments include methods for forming and treating a photovoltaic semiconductor absorber layer.

Disclosed are a mercury cadmium telluride-black phosphorus van der Waals heterojunction infrared polarization detector and a preparation method thereof. The structure of the detector from bottom to top comprises a substrate, a mercury cadmium telluride material, an insulating layer, a two-dimensional semiconductor black phosphorus, and metal electrodes. First, growing the mercury cadmium telluride material on the substrate, removing part of the mercury cadmium telluride by ultraviolet lithography and argon ion etching, filling with aluminum oxide as the insulating layer using an electron beam evaporation method, transferring the two-dimensional semiconductor material black phosphorus at the junction of mercury cadmium telluride and an insulating layer assisted by a polypropylene carbonate film, and preparing the metal source-drain electrodes by electron beam lithography technology combined with the lift-off process to form the mercury cadmium telluride-black phosphorus van der Waals heterojunction infrared polarization detector.

Embodiments of a photovoltaic device are provided herein. The photovoltaic device can include a layer stack and an absorber layer disposed on the layer stack. The absorber layer can include a first region and a second region. Each of the first region of the absorber layer and the second region of the absorber layer can include a compound comprising cadmium, selenium, and tellurium. An atomic concentration of selenium can vary across the absorber layer. The first region of the absorber layer can have a thickness between 100 nanometers to 3000 nanometers. The second region of the absorber layer can have a thickness between 100 nanometers to 3000 nanometers. A ratio of an average atomic concentration of selenium in the first region of the absorber layer to an average atomic concentration of selenium in the second region of the absorber layer can be greater than 10.