Techniques for enhancing the absorption of photons in semiconductors with the use of microstructures are described. The microstructures, such as holes, effectively increase the absorption of the photons. Using microstructures for absorption enhancement for silicon photodiodes and silicon avalanche photodiodes can result in bandwidths in excess of 10 Gb/s at photons with wavelengths of 850 nm, and with quantum efficiencies of approximately 90% or more. Their thickness dimensions allow them to be conveniently integrated on the same Si chip with CMOS, BiCMOS, and other electronics, with resulting packaging benefits and reduced capacitance and thus higher speeds.

Disclosed are devices for optical sensing and manufacturing method thereof. In one embodiment, a device for optical sensing includes a substrate, a photodetector and a reflector. The photodetector is disposed in the substrate. The reflector is disposed in the substrate and spaced apart from the photodetector, wherein the reflector has a reflective surface inclined relative to the photodetector that reflects light transmitted thereto to the photodetector.

In various embodiments, photovoltaic devices incorporate discontinuous passivation layers (i) disposed between a thin-film absorber layer and a partner layer, (ii) disposed between the partner layer and a front contact layer, and/or (iii) disposed between a back contact layer and the thin-film absorber layer.

A light absorption apparatus includes a substrate, a light absorption layer above the substrate on a first selected area, a silicon layer above the light absorption layer, a spacer surrounding at least part of the sidewall of the light absorption layer, an isolation layer surrounding at least part of the spacer, wherein the light absorption apparatus can achieve high bandwidth and low dark current.

A method of producing an optoelectronic semiconductor chip includes providing a growth substrate and a semiconductor layer sequence grown on the growth substrate with a main extension plane including a p-conductive layer, an active zone and an n-conductive layer, removing the semiconductor layer sequence in regions to form at least one aperture extending through the p-conductive layer and the active zone into the n-conductive layer of the semiconductor layer sequence, depositing a protective layer on a side of the semiconductor layer sequence facing away from the growth substrate, depositing an aluminum layer containing aluminum across the entire surface on a side of the semiconductor layer sequence facing away from the growth substrate, removing the growth substrate, and forming a mesa by removing the semiconductor layer sequence at the regions of the protective layer, wherein the protective layer is subsequently freely externally accessible at least in places.

A photodetector includes an insulating layer on a substrate, a first graphene layer on the insulating layer, a 2-dimensional (2D) material layer on the first graphene layer, a second graphene layer on the 2D material layer, a first electrode on the first graphene layer, and a second electrode on the second graphene layer. The 2D material layer includes a barrier layer and a light absorption layer. The barrier layer has a larger bandgap than the light absorption layer.

A method of forming a wavelength detector that includes forming a first transparent material layer having a uniform thickness on a first mirror structure, and forming an active element layer including a plurality of nanomaterial sections and electrodes in an alternating sequence atop the first transparent material layer. A second transparent material layer is formed having a plurality of different thickness portions atop the active element layer, wherein each thickness portion correlates to at least one of the plurality of nanomaterials. A second mirror structure is formed on the second transparent material layer.

A monolithic multiple solar cell includes at least three partial cells, with a semiconductor mirror placed between two partial cells. The aim of the invention is to improve the radiation stability of said solar cell. For this purpose, the semiconductor mirror has a high degree of reflection in at least one part of a spectral absorption area of the partial cell which is arranged above the semiconductor mirror and a high degree of transmission within the spectral absorption range of the partial cell arranged below the semiconductor mirror.

A semiconductor device is provided that includes an array of imaging cells realized from a plurality of layers formed on a substrate, wherein the plurality of layers includes at least one modulation doped quantum well structure spaced from at least one quantum dot structure. Each respective imaging cell includes an imaging region spaced from a corresponding charge storage region. The at least one quantum dot structure of the imaging region generates photocurrent arising from absorption of incident electromagnetic radiation. The at least one modulation doped quantum well structure defines a buried channel for lateral transfer of the photocurrent for charge accumulation in the charge storage region and output therefrom. The at least one modulation doped quantum well structure and the at least one quantum dot structure of each imaging cell can be disposed within a resonant cavity that receives the incident electromagnetic radiation or below a structured metal film having a periodic array of holes.

Provided are a nanostructure and an optical device including the nanostructure. The nanostructure is formed on a two-dimensional material layer such as graphene and includes nanopatterns having different shapes. The nanopatterns may include a first nanopattern and a second nanopattern and may be spherical; cube-shaped; or poly-pyramid-shaped, including a triangular pyramid shape; or polygonal pillar-shaped.