A photovoltaic device comprises a back reflective coating structure to provide back scattering of light that passes through the photovoltaic device, an absorber structure containing chalcogenide materials, and a top scattering antireflective structure deposited on the top subcell. Illustratively, a multi-junction structure comprises a bottom subcell deposited on the back reflective coating structure, the bottom subcell having a lower band gap, higher index material embedded therein, to provide lateral propagation of light that passes through the photovoltaic device, and a top subcell deposited on the bottom subcell. The multi-junction structure can comprise chalcogenide materials, in which case the top subcell is embedded with an intermediate band gap absorber material.

A device includes an image sensor chip having formed therein an elevated photodiode, and a device chip underlying and bonded to the image sensor chip. The device chip has a read out circuit electrically connected to the elevated photodiode.

A solar cell element according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a p-type semiconductor layer; an n-type semiconductor layer disposed on a first main surface of the p-type semiconductor layer; an insulating layer disposed on a first main surface of the n-type semiconductor layer, and including a through hole in a thickness direction; an electrode disposed on a portion of the first main surface of the n-type semiconductor layer in the through hole of the insulating layer, and being thicker than the insulating layer; and a conductor layer disposed on a first main surface of the insulating layer, being out of contact with the electrode, and having a lower work function than the n-type semiconductor layer.

A method for forming a transparent electrode includes a step of forming a thin metal wire on a transparent substrate; and a step of forming a transparent conductive layer on the transparent substrate and the thin metal wire. The step of forming the transparent conductive layer is a step of forming the transparent conductive layer by applying an application liquid onto the transparent substrate and the thin metal wire by printing. The application liquid is composed of a conductive polymer, a water-soluble binder having a structural unit represented by the following general formula (I), a polar solvent having a log P value of 1.50 to 0.45, and 5.0 to 25 mass % of a glycol ether. ##STR00001##

A photovoltaic device includes a substrate, a back contact comprising a stable low-work function material, a photovoltaic absorber material layer comprising Ag.sub.2ZnSn(S,Se).sub.4 (AZTSSe) on a side of the back contact opposite the substrate, wherein the back contact forms an Ohmic contact with the photovoltaic absorber material layer, a buffer layer or Schottky contact layer on a side of the absorber layer opposite the back contact, and a top electrode on a side of the buffer layer opposite the absorber layer.

Provided are a graphene structure and a method for producing the same in which graphene can be patterned with high precision, and thereby microfabrication of electronic device elements and electronic devices using graphene is possible and the manufacturing cost can be notably reduced. A resist film is precisely patterned on a substrate, hydrophilized films are formed in openings of the resist film, and then GO is selectively fixed on the portions of the hydrophilized films by a chemical bond utilizing the hydrophilicity of the GO, and the GO is reduced to obtain a graphene structure in which graphene is selectively fixed to only the portions of the hydrophilized films. Thus, the graphene structure is constituted by disposing graphene on a substrate and forming a bond, by hydrophilization treatment, between the hydrophilized portion of the substrate and the graphene and/or between the unhydrophobized portion of the substrate and the graphene.

A coated glazing comprising: a transparent glass substrate, wherein a surface of the substrate is directly or indirectly coated with at least one layer based on a transparent conductive coating (TCC) and/or at least one layer based on a material with a refractive index of at least 1.75, and wherein said surface has an arithmetical mean height of the surface value, Sa, of at least 0.4 nm prior to said coating of said surface.

A photovoltaic cell can include a dopant in contact with a semiconductor layer.

The crystalline silicon-based solar cell according to the present invention includes a first intrinsic silicon-based thin-film, a p-type silicon-based thin-film, a first transparent electrode layer, and a patterned collecting electrode on a first principal surface of an n-type crystalline silicon substrate; and a second intrinsic silicon-based thin-film, an n-type silicon-based thin-film, a second transparent electrode layer, and a plated metal electrode on a second principal surface of the n-type crystalline-silicon substrate. On a peripheral edge of the first principal surface, an insulating region freed of a short-circuit between the first transparent electrode layer and the second transparent electrode layer is provided. The plated metal electrode is formed on an entire region of the second transparent electrode layer.

A method for fabricating a photovoltaic device includes forming a polycrystalline absorber layer including CuZnSnS(Se) (CZTSSe) over a substrate. The absorber layer is rapid thermal annealed in a sealed chamber having elemental sulfur within the chamber. A sulfur content profile is graded in the absorber layer in accordance with a size of the elemental sulfur and an anneal temperature to provide a graduated bandgap profile for the absorber layer. Additional layers are formed on the absorber layer to complete the photovoltaic device.