Semiconductor devices and methods of fabricating semiconductor devices having a dilute nitride active layer and at least one semiconductor material overlying the dilute nitride active layer are disclosed. Hybrid epitaxial growth and the use of hydrogen diffusion barrier layers to minimize hydrogen diffusion into the dilute nitride active layer are used to fabricate high-efficiency multijunction solar cells and photonic devices. Hydrogen diffusion barriers can be formed through the use of layer thickness, composition, doping and/or strain.

An InGaN solar photovoltaic device includes a base band, a light absorption layer, an n-type ZnO electron transport layer, and a p-type InN hole transport layer, the p-type InN hole transport layer is on a front side of the light absorption layer, and the base band and the n-type ZnO electron transport layer are on a back side of the light absorption layer, wherein the light absorption layer includes a p-type In.sub.xGa.sub.1-XN layer and an n-type In.sub.yGa.sub.1-yN layer which are superposed, where 0.2<x<0.4 and 0.2<y<0.4, and the p-type In.sub.xGa.sub.1-XN layer and the n-type In.sub.yGa.sub.1-yN layer are doped with Si and Mg. The InGaN solar photovoltaic device with a flexible multi-layer structure features high in energy conversion efficiency, low in cost, simple in manufacturing, and easy to implement, and thus has a broad prospect in application.

Heterostructures containing one or more sheets of positive charge, or alternately stacked AlGaN barriers and AlGaN wells with specified thickness are provided. Also provided are multiple quantum well structures and p-type contacts. The heterostructures, the multiple quantum well structures and the p-type contacts can be used in light emitting devices and photodetectors.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed towards an image sensor having a photodetector disposed in a semiconductor substrate. The photodetector comprises a first doped region having a first doping type. A deep well region is disposed within the semiconductor substrate, where the deep well region extends from a back-side surface of the semiconductor substrate to a top surface of the first doped region. A second doped region is disposed within the semiconductor substrate and abuts the first doped region. The second doped region and the deep well region comprise a first dopant having a second doping type opposite the first doping type, where the first dopant comprises gallium.

A solar processing unit (SPU) for the conversion of solar energy to electric power includes a heterostructure of sheets of two (2)-dimensional materials. The heterostructure is utilized to produce a crystalline structure, wherein elemental Boron (B) and elemental Nitrogen (N), contained in sheets of hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN), are located as bookends to one or more Carbons (C)s, between at least one sheet of Graphene. Each absorbed photon produces Multi-Excitation Generation, wherein more than one electron is generated. The SPU produces a spin motion of the Boron atoms in one direction and the Nitrogen atoms in the opposite direction within hBN by placing an external fixed magnetic field perpendicular to the sheet of hBN and a second orthogonal magnetic field paired to the strength of the fixed magnetic field and tuned to the resonant magnetic frequency of Nitrogen-15 followed by Boron-11, thereby achieving the spin required for enhanced photonic absorption.

Heterostructures containing one or more sheets of positive charge, or alternately stacked AlGaN barriers and AlGaN wells with specified thickness are provided. Also provided are multiple quantum well structures and p-type contacts. The heterostructures, the multiple quantum well structures and the p-type contacts can be used in light emitting devices and photodetectors.

Semiconductor devices and methods of fabricating semiconductor devices having a dilute nitride layer and at least one semiconductor material overlying the dilute nitride layer are disclosed. Hybrid epitaxial growth and the use of aluminum barrier layers to minimize hydrogen diffusion into the dilute nitride layer are used to fabricate high-efficiency multijunction solar cells.

Semiconductor devices and methods of fabricating semiconductor devices having a dilute nitride active layer and at least one semiconductor material overlying the dilute nitride active layer are disclosed. Hybrid epitaxial growth and the use of hydrogen diffusion barrier layers to minimize hydrogen diffusion into the dilute nitride active layer are used to fabricate high-efficiency multijunction solar cells and photonic devices. Hydrogen diffusion barriers can be formed through the use of layer thickness, composition, doping and/or strain.

Provided are a semiconductor photodiode which achieves a higher response rate in a state in which light receiving sensitivity is maintained. The semiconductor photodiode includes a p-type semiconductor contact layer, an n-type semiconductor contact layer, and a light absorption layer. The light absorption layer includes a first semiconductor absorption layer having a thickness Wd and a p-type second semiconductor absorption layer having a thickness Wp. The first semiconductor absorption layer and the second absorption layer are made of the same composition. The first semiconductor absorption layer is depleted, and the second semiconductor absorption layer maintains an electric charge neutral condition except for a region near an interface with the first semiconductor absorption layer. A relationship between the thickness Wd and the thickness Wp satisfies 0.47Wp/(Wp+Wd)0.9.

The invention relates inter alia to a photoconductor (10) comprising a multilayer (13) which comprises a plurality of photoconductive semiconductor layers (131-134). According to the invention, the multilayer (13) comprises at least two sublayers (130) which each comprise at least a first photoconductive semiconductor layer (131) and a second photoconductive semiconductor layer (132), wherein the first and the second photoconductive semiconductor layer (131, 132) are doped to different degrees for each of the sublayers (130).