A semiconductor film, including: an assembly of semiconductor quantum dots containing a metal atom; and a ligand that is coordinated to the semiconductor quantum dots and that is represented by the following Formula (A): ##STR00001##
wherein, in Formula (A), X.sup.1 represents NH, S, or O; each of X.sup.2 and X.sup.3 independently represents NH.sub.2, SH, or OH; and each of n and m independently represents an integer from 1 to 3.

An electronic device includes a semiconductor nanoparticle, and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor nanoparticle is additionally provided. The semiconductor nanoparticle includes: a core including a first element; and a shell covering at least a portion of a surface of the core and including a second element and a third element, wherein the first element, the second element, and the third element are different from each other, and the first element and the second element are chemically bonded to each other on the at least a portion of the surface of the core.

Electromagnetic energy collecting devices are described wherein a plasmonic near field resonating system absorbs light and transfers the light energy by plasmonic near field resonance to a semiconducting material that then separates the charge. The charge is then transported out of the device, converting light energy into electrical energy. The multiple nanoparticle plasmonic resonators are closely coupled with an electrically-conductive layer that creates electromagnetic resonances that provide for near perfect absorption of the incoming light. The device can be used both as an optical sensor and as a photovoltaic electromagnetic energy to electrical energy converter.

The production process according to the invention consists of a nanometric scale transformation of the crystalline silicon in a hybrid arrangement buried within the crystal lattice of a silicon wafer, to improve the efficiency of the conversion of light into electricity, by means of hot electrons. All the parameters, procedures and steps involved in manufacturing giant photoconversion cells have been tested and validated separately, by producing twenty series of test devices.

An example of the technology consists of manufacturing a conventional crystalline silicon photovoltaic cell with a single collection junction and completing the device thus obtained by an amorphizing ion implantation followed by a post-implantation thermal treatment.

The modulation of the crystal, specific to the giant photoconversion, is then carried out on a nanometric scale in a controlled manner to obtain SEGTONs and SEG-MATTER which are active both optically and electronically, together with the primary conversion of the host converter.

A sensor assembly for determining one or more features of a local area is presented herein. The sensor assembly includes a plurality of stacked sensor layers. A first sensor layer of the plurality of stacked sensor layers located on top of the sensor assembly includes an array of pixels. The top sensor layer can be configured to capture one or more images of light reflected from one or more objects in the local area. The sensor assembly further includes one or more sensor layers located beneath the top sensor layer. The one or more sensor layers can be configured to process data related to the captured one or more images. A plurality of sensor assemblies can be integrated into an artificial reality system, e.g., a head-mounted display.

The invention is directed to a photovoltaic apparatus comprising a carrier substrate. The carrier substrate carries printed structures comprising: a plurality of photovoltaic modules, each module including first and second terminals and a plurality of photovoltaic cells electrically connected between the first and second module terminals; a first bus bar extending along one side of the photovoltaic modules; a second bus bar extending along an opposite side of the photovoltaic modules; and a plurality of intermodule rails, each inter-module rail being associated with a photovoltaic module. The apparatus includes a plurality of selectively configurable junctions, one or more of the junctions being configurable to enable a photovoltaic module to be selectively connected to or disconnected from an adjacent photovoltaic module via one or more inter-module rails, and/or enable a module terminal to selectively connect with or disconnect from one of the first and second bus bars, such that the photovoltaic modules can be selectively electrically connected in series and/or parallel on demand.

Structures and methods for electron-hole photogeneration by plasmonic multiple exciton generation in light absorbing layers and solar cells are disclosed.

A quantum dot infrared detector includes a quantum dot-stacked structure in which quantum dot layers each containing quantum dots stacked on top of one another and intermediate layers. The quantum dots are sandwiched between the intermediate layers in the height direction of the quantum dots. The quantum dots have conduction band quantum confinement levels that include a conduction band ground level, a conduction band first excitation level at a higher energy position than the conduction band ground level, and a conduction band second excitation level at a higher energy position than the conduction band ground level. An energy gap between the conduction band first excitation level and the conduction band bottom of the intermediate layer and an energy gap between the conduction band second excitation level and the conduction band bottom of the intermediate layer are each smaller than twice thermal energy.

Nanocomposites in accordance with many embodiments of the invention can be capable of converting electromagnetic radiation to an electric signal, such as signals in the form of current or voltage. In some embodiments, metallic nanostructures are integrated with graphene material to form a metallo-graphene nanocomposite. Graphene is a material that has been explored for broadband and ultrafast photodetection applications because of its distinct optical and electronic characteristics. However, the low optical absorption and the short carrier lifetime of graphene can limit its use in many applications. Nanocomposites in accordance with various embodiments of the invention integrates metallic nanostructures, such as (but not limited to) plasmonic nanoantennas and metallic nanoparticles, with a graphene-based material to form metallo-graphene nanostructures that can offer high responsivity, ultrafast temporal responses, and broadband operation in a variety of optoelectronic applications.

The invention is directed to a photovoltaic apparatus comprising a carrier substrate. The carrier substrate carries printed structures comprising: a plurality of photovoltaic modules, each module including first and second terminals and a plurality of photovoltaic cells electrically connected between the first and second module terminals; a first bus bar extending along one side of the photovoltaic modules; a second bus bar extending along an opposite side of the photovoltaic modules; and a plurality of intermodule rails, each inter-module rail being associated with a photovoltaic module. The apparatus includes a plurality of selectively configurable junctions, one or more of the junctions being configurable to enable a photovoltaic module to be selectively connected to or disconnected from an adjacent photovoltaic module via one or more inter-module rails, and/or enable a module terminal to selectively connect with or disconnect from one of the first and second bus bars, such that the photovoltaic modules can be selectively electrically connected in series and/or parallel on demand.