The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a photovoltaic module comprising plurality of solar cells in a thin-layer structure, in which the following are formed consecutively in the structure: an electrode on the rear surface (41), a photovoltaic layer (43) obtained by depositing components including metal precursors and at least one element taken from Se and S and by annealing such as to convert said components into a semiconductor material, and another semiconductor layer (44) in order to create a pn junction with the photovoltaic layer (43); characterized in that the metal precursors form, on the electrode on the rear surface (41), a continuous layer, while said at least one element forms a layer having at least one break making it possible, at the end of the annealing step, to leave an area (430) of the layer of metal precursors in the metal state at said break.

Semiconductor materials offer several potential benefits as active elements in the development of harvesting-energy conversion technologies. In particular, lead selenide (PbSe) semiconductors have been used and proposed to design solar energy harvesting devices, IR sensors, FET devices, amongst others. The present disclosure provides a lead selenide capped with an aromatic ligand. The use of an aromatic ligand, and more specifically benzoic acid, provides robustness and more durability to the lead selenide, and therefore prevents the lead selenide from breaking or cracking easily. Also the aromatic ligand prevents the degradation and oxidation of the lead selenide, without affecting any of the lead selenide electronic and chemical characteristics.

A layer system (1) for thin-film solar cells (100), comprising an absorber layer (4), which contains a chalcogenide compound semiconductor, and a buffer layer (5), which is arranged on the absorber layer (4), wherein the buffer layer (5) has a semiconductor material of the formula A.sub.xIn.sub.yS.sub.z, where A is potassium (K) and/or cesium (Cs), with 0.015x/(x+y+z)0.25 and 0.30y/(y+z)0.45.

The embodiments of the disclosure relate generally to photovoltaic devices with broad band absorption in the solar light spectrum incident to Earth. The devices include integrated layers of graphite oxide and reduced graphite oxide, which exhibit intrinsic p/n junctions, which can be self-biasing and allow for production and separation of electron-hole pairs that can drive the current in the device. Descriptions of the devices and methods of making the structures are disclosed.

The inventive concepts provide a solar cell and a method of fabricating the same. The method includes preparing a substrate in a chamber, forming a light absorbing layer on the substrate by setting temperature in the chamber to a first temperature and by supplying a first source into the chamber, forming a buffer layer on the substrate by setting temperature in the chamber to a second temperature lower than the first temperature and by supplying the first source into the chamber, and forming a window layer on the substrate by supplying a second source different from the first source into the chamber.

Provided are a metal chalcogenide thin film and a method and device for manufacturing the same. The metal chalcogenide thin film includes a transition metal element and a chalcogen element, and at least one of the transition metal element and the chalcogen element having a composition gradient along the surface of the metal chalcogenide thin film, the composition gradient being an in-plane composition gradient. The metal chalcogenide thin film may be prepared by using a manufacturing method including providing a transition metal precursor and a chalcogen precursor on a substrate by using a confined reaction space in such a manner that at least one of the transition metal precursor and the chalcogen precursor forms a concentration gradient according to a position on the surface of the substrate; and heat-treating the substrate.

The technology disclosed herein concerns a process for fabricating devices with Graphene Nanogap Electrodes (GNE).

An integrated circuit includes a photodetector. The photodetector includes one or more dielectric structures positioned in a trench in a semiconductor substrate. The photodetector includes a photosensitive material positioned in the trench and covering the one or more dielectric structures. A dielectric layer covers the photosensitive material. The photosensitive material has an index of refraction that is greater than the indices of refraction of the dielectric structures and the dielectric layer.

This n-type SnS thin-film has n-type conductivity, an average thickness thereof is 0.100 m to 10 m, a ratio (.sub.1.1/.sub.1.6) of an absorption coefficient .sub.1.1 at a photon energy of 1.1 eV to an absorption coefficient .sub.1.6 at a photon energy of 1.6 eV is 0.200 or less, an atomic ratio of an S content to an Sn content is 0.85 to 1.10.

Provided are a photoelectric conversion element and a photoelectric conversion device that are thin, have high conversion efficiency, and allow device scale-up. The photoelectric conversion element includes a photoelectric conversion member containing a transition metal dichalcogenide, and a first electrode and a second electrode that are connected to the photoelectric conversion member, in which the first electrode and the second electrode include facing portions where at least a part of the first electrode and at least a part of the second electrode are arranged to face each other in a parallel manner, and a length W of each of the facing portions and a separation distance Lch between the first electrode and the second electrode at the facing portions satisfy a relationship of W/Lch36.7. The photoelectric conversion device includes the photoelectric conversion element.