Manufacture of multi-junction solar cells, and devices thereof, are disclosed. The architectures are also adapted to provide for a more uniform and consistent fabrication of the solar cell structures, leading to improved yields, greater efficiency, and lower costs. Certain solar cells may be from a different manufacturing process and further include one or more compositional gradients of one or more semiconductor elements in one or more semiconductor layers, resulting in a more optimal solar cell device.

The electronic device comprises a substrate (1), at least one semiconductor wire element (2) formed by a nitride of a group III material and an electroconductive layer (3) interposed between the substrate (1) and said at least one semiconductor wire element (2). Said at least one semiconductor wire element (2) extends from said electroconductive layer (3), and the electroconductive layer (3) comprises a carbide of zirconium or a carbide of hafnium.

A photovoltaic structure includes a substrate; and a plurality of off-axis, doped silicon regions outward of the substrate. The plurality of off-axis, doped silicon regions have an off-axis lattice orientation at a predetermined non-zero angle. A plurality of photovoltaic devices of a first chemistry are located outward of the plurality of off-axis, doped silicon regions. Optionally, a plurality of photovoltaic devices of a second chemistry, different than the first chemistry, are located outward of the substrate and are spaced away from the plurality of off-axis, doped silicon regions.

A composition of matter comprising: a graphitic substrate optionally carried on a support, a seed layer having a thickness of no more than 50 nm deposited directly on top of said substrate, opposite any support; and an oxide or nitride masking layer e directly on top of said seed layer; wherein a plurality of holes are present through said seed layer and through said masking layer to C said graphitic substrate; and wherein a plurality of nanowires or nanopyramids are grown from said substrate in said holes, said nanowres or nanopyramids comprising at least one semiconducting group III-V compound.

Provided is a high-quality substrate including a silicon layer, a multilayer buffer layer on the silicon layer, and an indium phosphide (InP) layer on the multilayer buffer layer, wherein a crystal growth direction of the silicon layer is a direction inclined by 1° to 10° with respect to a vertical direction, and wherein the multilayer buffer layer includes a buffer layer in which a crystal growth direction is inclined with respect to the vertical direction.

A method of fabricating a four junction solar cell by identifying the composition and band gaps of the upper first, second and third subcells that maximizes the efficiency of the solar cell at a predetermined time after initial deployment by simulation; fabricating one or more four-junction test solar cells in accordance with the identified composition and band gaps of the upper first, second and third subcells; performing one or more optical or electrical tests on the fabricated one or more four-junction test solar cells; based on results of the tests, determining one or more properties of at least one of the upper first, second or third subcells to be modified in subsequent fabrication of four-junction solar cells, including the band gap, doping level and profile, and thickness of each of the subcell layers; and fabricating a further four-junction solar cell in accordance with the modified properties of at least one of the upper first, second or third subcells to optimize the efficiency of the solar cell at the predetermined time.

A composition of matter, in particular a photovoltaic cell, comprising: at least one core semiconductor nanowire on a graphitic substrate, said at least one core nanowire having been grown epitaxially on said substrate wherein said nanowire comprises at least one group III-V compound or at least one group II-VI compound or at least one group IV element; a semiconductor shell surrounding said core nanowire, said shell comprising at least one group III-V compound or at least one group II-VI compound or at least one group IV element such that said core nanowire and said shell form a n-type semiconductor and a p-type semiconductor respectively or vice versa; and an outer conducting coating surrounding said shell which forms an electrode contact.

An ultraviolet (UV) photo-detecting device, including: a substrate; a first nitride layer disposed on the substrate; a second nitride layer disposed between the first nitride layer and the substrate; a light absorption layer disposed on the first nitride layer; and a Schottky junction layer disposed on the light absorption layer.

The invention relates to a method for producing a plurality of optoelectronic semiconductor components (1), comprising the following steps: a) providing a semiconductor layer sequence (2) having a plurality of semiconductor body regions (200); b) providing a plurality of carrier bodies (3), which each have a first contact structure (31) and a second contact structure (32); c) forming a composite (4) having the semiconductor layer sequence and the carrier bodies in such a way that adjacent carrier bodies are separated from one another by interspaces (35) and each semiconductor body area is electrically conductive connected to the first contact structure and the second contact structure of the associated carrier body; and d) separating the composite into the plurality of semiconductor components, wherein the semiconductor components each have a semiconductor body (20) and a carrier body. The invention further relates to an optoelectronic semiconductor component (1).

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method of manufacturing an optoelectronic device epitaxial structure. The method includes forming a mask pattern on a base substrate, the mask pattern defining a plurality of growth regions on the base substrate, and the plurality of growth regions being separated from each other; and forming an optoelectronic device epitaxial structure in each of the plurality of growth regions; and removing the mask pattern.