Semiconductor photoelectric generator

• US 3,948,682 A
• Filed: 10/31/1974
• Issued: 04/06/1976
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/1974
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Aita Konstantinovna Zaitseva, Arkady Pavlovich Landsman, Dmitry Semenovich Strebkov, Ninel Mineevna Bordina, Vadim Alexeevich Unishkov, Valentina Ivanovna Streltsova, Vitaly Viktorovich Zadde
• Original Assignee: Aita Konstantinovna Zaitseva, Arkady Pavlovich Landsman, Dmitry Semenovich Strebkov, Ninel Mineevna Bordina, Vadim Alexeevich Unishkov, Valentina Ivanovna Streltsova, Vitaly Viktorovich Zadde
• Inventors: Zadde, Vitaly Viktorovich, Landsman, Arkady Pavlovich, Unishkov, Vadim Alexeevich, Streltsova, Valentina Ivanovna, Strebkov, Dmitry Semenovich, Zaitseva, Aita Konstantinovna, Bordina, Ninel Mineevna
• Primary Examiner(s): Tung, T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Weisstuch, Aaron
• Application Number:
  US05/519,697
• Time in Patent Office: 523 Days
• Field of Search: 136/89, 357/20, 357/30, 357/15
• US Class Current: 136/244
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/00 Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof H10K30/00 takes precedence; devices consisting of a plurality of solid state components formed in, or on, a common substrate, other than combinations of radiation-sensitive components with one or more electric light sources, H01L27/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/047 PV cell arrays including PV cells having multiple vertical junctions or multiple V-groove junctions formed in a semiconductor substrate
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/50 Photovoltaic [PV] energy

Abstract

A semiconductor photoelectric generator comprising interconnected photocells with rectifying barriers, with isotype junctions in the base region and with current leads in the regions adjacent the rectifying barriers. Each photocell has a working surface, receiving incident radiation. The isotype junctions in the photocells are provided in direct proximity to the working surfaces of the photocells. At least one rectifying barrier in each photocell is provided at a distance from the working surface not exceeding the diffusion length of minority current carriers in the base region. The photocells can have the shape of microminiature parallelepipeds having at least two dimensions commensurate with the diffusion length of minority current carriers in the base region.

Claims

1. A semiconductor photoelectric generator comprising semiconductor photocells each having a doped region, a base region, a metal current lead to said base region;

a metal current lead to said doped region;

a working surface receiving incident radiation;

rectifying barriers, at least one of said rectifying barriers being provided at a distance from said working surface not exceeding the diffusion length of minority current carriers in said base region;

isotype p-p⁺ or n-n⁺ junctions provided in direct proximity to said working surface;

said photocells having the shape of parallelepipeds, at least one linear dimension thereof being commensurate with the diffusion length of minority current carriers in said base region;

all said current leads interconnecting said photocells into a generator.

2. A semiconductor photoelectric generator as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rectifying barriers are provided parallel to the surfaces that are opposite to said working surfaces, said current leads being disposed on said working surfaces and on the surfaces that are opposite to said working surfaces;

said current leads on the surfaces opposite the working surfaces being arranged over the entire area of said surfaces.

3. A semiconductor photoelectric generator as claimed in claim 2, wherein said rectifying barriers are embodied as p-n junctions;

said p-n junctions being disposed at a depth sufficient to eliminate the action of surface effects thereon.

4. A semiconductor photoelectric generator built around semiconductor photocells, each of said photocells comprising;

a doped region;

a base region;

a metal current lead to said base region;

a metal current lead to said doped region;

a working surface receiving incident radiation;

rectifying barriers, at least one of said rectifying barriers being provided at a distance from said working surface not exceeding the diffusion length of minority current carriers to said base region;

an isotype p-p^+or n-n⁺ junction provided in direct proximity to said working surface;

an additional isotype junction, disposed parallel to the face that is inclined at an angle to said working surface;

said photocells having the shape of microminiature parallelepipeds of which at least two linear dimensions are commensurate with the diffusion length of minority current carriers to said base region;

all said current leads interconnecting said photocells into a generator.

5. A semiconductor photoelectric generator as claimed in claim 4, wherein said rectifying barriers are disposed parallel to at least one of the faces inclined at an angle to said working surface;

each said photoconverters having another additional isotype junction disposed in direct proximity to the surface that is opposite to said working surface.

6. A semiconductor photoelectric generator as claimed in claim 5, wherein said rectifying barriers are embodied as p-n junctions;

said p-n junctions being disposed at a depth sufficient for eliminating the influence of surface effects thereon.

7. A semiconductor photoelectric generator as claimed in claim 4, wherein said rectifying barriers are provided parallel to the surfaces which are opposite to the said working surfaces, said current leads are disposed in said working surfaces and on the surfaces that are opposite to said working surfaces;

said current leads on the surfaces opposite to the working surfaces being disposed over the entire area of said surfaces.

8. A semiconductor photoelectric generator built around semiconductor photocells, each photocell comprising:

a doped region;

a base region;

a working region which receives incident radiation;

a metal current lead to said base region disposed over the entire area of the surface that is opposite to said working surface;

a metal current lead to said doped region;

rectifying barriers disposed parallel to the faces that are inclined at a certain angle to said working surface;

an isotype p--p⁺ or n--n⁺ junction disposed in direct proximity to said working surface;

an additional isotype junction disposed parallel and in direct proximity to the surface that is opposite the said working surface;

said photocells having the shape of microminiature parallelepipeds having at least two linear dimensions commensurate with the diffusion length of minority current carriers in said base region;

all said current leads interconnecting said photocells into a generator.