Solar cells using arrays of optical rectennas
First Claim
1. A solar cell comprising:
- a planar substrate having a top side and a bottom side;
an at least one optical antenna comprising a geometric morphology capable of accepting energy;
a rectifier having the optical antenna at a first end and engaging the substrate at a second end wherein the rectifier comprises the optical antenna engaged to a rectifying material; and
a metal layer wherein the metal layer surrounds a length of the rectifier, wherein the optical antenna accepts energy and converts the energy from AC to DC along the rectifier.
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Abstract
The present invention discloses a solar cell comprising a nanostructure array capable of accepting energy and producing electricity. In an embodiment, the solar cell comprises an at least one optical antenna having a geometric morphology capable of accepting energy. In addition, the cell comprises a rectifier having the optical antenna at a first end and engaging a substrate at a second end wherein the rectifier comprises the optical antenna engaged to a rectifying material (such as, a semiconductor). In addition, an embodiment of the solar cell comprises a metal layer wherein the metal layer surrounds a length of the rectifier, wherein the optical antenna accepts energy and converts the energy from AC to DC along the rectifier. Further, the invention provides various methods of efficiently and reliably producing such solar cells.
207 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A solar cell comprising:
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a planar substrate having a top side and a bottom side;
an at least one optical antenna comprising a geometric morphology capable of accepting energy;
a rectifier having the optical antenna at a first end and engaging the substrate at a second end wherein the rectifier comprises the optical antenna engaged to a rectifying material; and
a metal layer wherein the metal layer surrounds a length of the rectifier, wherein the optical antenna accepts energy and converts the energy from AC to DC along the rectifier. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12)
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9. The cell of claim 9 wherein the semiconductor is selected from the group consisting of doped silicon, undoped silicon, silicon carbide and GaAs.
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13. A solar cell comprising:
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a planar substrate having a conductor layer below a semiconductor layer;
an array of carbon nanotubes engaging the semiconductor layer at a first end and comprising an optical antenna at a second end; and
a passivation layer wherein the passivation layer surrounds a length of the carbon nanotubes, wherein the optical antenna accepts energy and delivers energy to the solar cell wherein AC is rectified to DC. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for producing a solar cell, comprising:
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growing a plurality of vertically-aligned nanotubes on a substrate;
depositing a layer of a rectifying material onto the nanotubes; and
depositing a layer of metal to cover a length of the nanotubes. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification