A method of manufacturing a cadmium (Cd) alloy transmissive solar cell is provided. The method includes pumping a vacuum chamber to a base pressure and pumping the vacuum chamber to a sputtering pressure. The method includes providing into the vacuum chamber a first gas at a rate that balances a flow of the first gas in and out of the vacuum chamber with respect to the sputtering pressure and heating a surface of a partially manufactured cadmium (Cd) alloy transmissive solar cell within the vacuum chamber to a calibrated deposition temperature. The method includes providing into the vacuum chamber a second gas including at least a hydrogen gas (H.sub.2) at a proportional rate to achieve a target gas mix while maintaining the sputtering pressure and depositing a target material onto the surface to form a back contact section of the cadmium (Cd) alloy transmissive solar cell.

Distributor assemblies for vapor transport deposition systems, and methods of conducting vapor transport deposition, are described.

An optoelectronic device is manufactured by an epitaxial growth, on each first layer of many first layers spaced apart from each other on a first support, wherein the first is made of a first semiconductor material, of a second layer made of a second semiconductor material. A further epitaxial growth is made on each second layer of a stack of semiconductor layers. Each stack includes a third layer made of a third semiconductor material in physical contact with the second layer. Each stack is then separated from the first layer by removing the second layer using an etching that is selective simultaneously over both the first and third semiconductor materials. Each stack is then transferred onto a second support. Each of the first and third semiconductor materials is one of a III-V compound or a II-VI compound.

Solar cell structures comprising a plurality of solar cells, wherein each solar cell is separated from adjacent solar cell via a tunnel junction and/or a resonant tunneling structure (RTS), are described. Solar cells are implemented on Ge, Si, GaN, sapphire, and glass substrates. Each of the plurality of solar cells is at least partially constructed from a cell material which harnesses photons having energies in a predetermined energy range. In one embodiment each solar cell comprises of at least two sub-cells. It also describes a nano-patterned region/layer to implement high efficiency tandem/multi-junction solar cells that reduces dislocation density due to mismatch in lattice constants in the case of single crystalline and/or polycrystalline solar cells. Finally, solar structure could be used as light-emitting diodes when biased in forward biasing mode. The mode of operation could be determined by a programmed microprocessor.