The present invention provides: a light absorption layer for forming a photoelectric conversion element and an intermediate-band solar cell which have excellent two-step light absorption quantum yield; and a photoelectric conversion element and an intermediate-band solar cell having the light absorption layer. In addition, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a light absorption layer that includes an intermediate-band and that has few voids. This light absorption layer: is configured so that quantum dots are scattered in the matrix of a bulk semiconductor having band gap energy of 2.0 to 3.0 eV; includes an intermediate-band; and has a void rate of no more than 10%.

This invention provides a filter-free tunable spectrum PD with a layered structure of at least two electrodes and two functional layers. Both functional layers can be a layer, a stack of inorganic semiconductors, an organic semiconductor, an organic/polymer donor/acceptor blend, a hybrid semiconductor or their combinations that has a good charge transport property. The first functional layer absorbs the shorter-wavelength EM waves and is transparent to the longer-wavelength EM waves. The second functional layer absorbs the longer-wavelength EM waves. The detection spectrum window is determined by the difference in wavelengths between the transmission cut-off wavelength of the first functional layer and absorbing edge of the second functional layer, or between the absorption edge of the first functional layer and that of the second functional layer. The present PDs can be used in imaging, thermal therapy, night-vision, Li-Fi, optical communication, environmental detection, agricultural, wellness, bioimage, food, automotive and security monitoring.

A photovoltaic solar cell apparatus is described herein combining the advantages of several discoveries that address the previously unsolved problem of creating high conversion efficiency solar cells at a low cost. The solar cell designs and underlying principals disclosed herein may be applied in any type of photovoltaic solar power application, such as large scale photovoltaic solar plants, rooftop panels, solar powered electronic devices, and many others.

There is a method for forming a semiconductor nanostructure on a substrate. The method includes placing a substrate and a semiconductor material in a pulsed laser deposition chamber; selecting parameters including a fluence of a laser beam, a pressure P inside the chamber, a temperature T of the substrate, a distance d between the semiconductor material and the substrate, and a gas molecule diameter a.sub.0 of a gas to be placed inside the chamber so that conditions for a Stranski-Krastanov nucleation are created; and applying the laser beam with the selected fluence to the semiconductor material to form a plume of the semiconductor material. The selected parameters determine the formation, from the plume, of (1) a nanolayer that covers the substrate, (2) a polycrystalline wetting layer over the nanolayer, and (3) a single-crystal nanofeature over the polycrystalline wetting layer, and the single-crystal nanofeature is grown free of any catalyst or seeding layer.

A polymer solar cell includes a photoactive layer, a cathode electrode, and an anode electrode. The photoactive layer includes a polymer layer and a carbon nanotube layer. The polymer layer includes a first polymer surface and a second polymer surface opposite to the first polymer surface. A portion of the carbon nanotube layer is embedded in the polymer layer, and another portion of the carbon nanotube layer is exposed from the polymer layer. The cathode electrode is located a surface of the carbon nanotube layer away from the polymer layer. The anode electrode is located on the first polymer surface and spaced apart from the carbon nanotube layer. The entire second polymer surface is exposed.

An object of the present invention is to provide an infrared sensor having a high TCR value, and a method for manufacturing the infrared sensor. The infrared sensor comprises a substrate, a first electrode on the substrate, a second electrode spaced from the first electrode on the substrate, and a carbon nanotube layer electrically connected with the first electrode and the second electrode, wherein the carbon nanotube layer comprises semiconducting carbon nanotubes in an amount more than 66% by mass based on the total amount of carbon nanotubes and 60% or more of the carbon nanotubes contained in the carbon nanotube layer have a diameter within a range of 0.6 to 1.5 nm and a length within a range of 100 nm to 5 μm.

A hybrid particle according to the present invention includes an inorganic core particle, an electron transport layer covering a surface of the inorganic core particle, and a light absorption layer covering the electron transport layer. The light absorption layer contains a compound having an organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite crystal structure or a metal complex. The compound or the metal complex is grown in a crystalline form on a surface of the electron transport layer.

A photovoltaic solar cell apparatus is described herein combining the advantages of several discoveries that address the previously unsolved problem of creating high conversion efficiency solar cells at a low cost. The solar cell designs and underlying principals disclosed herein may be applied in any type of photovoltaic solar power application, such as large scale photovoltaic solar plants, rooftop panels, solar powered electronic devices, and many others.

Photovoltaic devices such as solar cells, hybrid solar cell-batteries, and other such devices may include an active layer disposed between two electrodes, the active layer having perovskite material and other material such as mesoporous material, interfacial layers, thin-coat interfacial layers, and combinations thereof. The perovskite material may be photoactive. The perovskite material may be disposed between two or more other materials in the photovoltaic device. Inclusion of these materials in various arrangements within an active layer of a photovoltaic device may improve device performance. Other materials may be included to further improve device performance, such as, for example: additional perovskites, and additional interfacial layers.

A photovoltaic device includes an organic semiconductor and an inorganic semiconductor. The organic semiconductor includes a photoactive region that generates excitons. The inorganic semiconductor has piezoelectricity and includes a dissociation region for dissociating carriers included in the excitons. A relationship of energy levels between the photoactive region and the dissociation region satisfies at least one equation E.sub.LUMO>E.sub.C or equation E.sub.HOMO<E.sub.V.