Three-dimensional bicontinuous heterostructures, method of making, and their application in quantum dot-polymer nanocomposite photodetectors and photovoltaics

• US 9,231,223 B2
• Filed: 05/06/2013
• Issued: 01/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InVisage Technologies, Inc. (Apple Inc.), Ethan Klem, Ian Howard, Jason Clifford
• Original Assignee: InVisage Technologies, Inc. (Apple Inc.)
• Inventors: Sargent, Edward, McDonald, Steven Ashworth, Zhang, Shiguo, Levina, Larissa, Konstantatos, Gerasimos, Cyr, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): TOBERGTE, NICHOLAS J
• Application Number:
  US13/887,895
• Publication Number:
  US 20130244366A1
• Time in Patent Office: 974 Days
• Field of Search: 257/441, 257/465, 257/466, 438/82, 438/962
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 10/00 Nanotechnology for information processing, storage or transmission, e.g. quantum computing or single electron logic
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 40/00 Manufacture or treatment of nanostructures
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02543 Phosphides
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/0256 Selenides
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02568 Chalcogenide semiconducting materials not being oxides, e.g. ternary compounds
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02601 Nanoparticles fullerenes H10K85/211
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/0352 characterised by their shape or by the shapes, relative sizes or disposition of the semiconductor regions
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 10/466 Lateral bottom-gate IGFETs comprising only a single gate
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 10/488 the channel region comprising a layer of composite material having interpenetrating or embedded materials, e.g. a mixture of donor and acceptor moieties, that form a bulk heterojunction
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 30/10 comprising heterojunctions between organic semiconductors and inorganic semiconductors
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 30/30 comprising bulk heterojunctions, e.g. interpenetrating networks of donor and acceptor material domains
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 30/35 comprising inorganic nanostructures, e.g. CdSe nanoparticles
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 39/30 Devices controlled by radiation
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 85/114 Poly-phenylenevinylene; Derivatives thereof
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/549 Organic PV cells
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 70/50 Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 977/773 Nanoparticle, i.e. structure having three dimensions of 100 nm or less
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 977/774 Exhibiting three-dimensional carrier confinement, e.g. quantum dots
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 977/783 Organic host/matrix, e.g. lipid
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 977/784 Electrically conducting, semi-conducting, or semi-insulating host material
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 977/954 : Of radiant energy

Abstract

The present invention provides of a three-dimensional bicontinuous heterostructure, a method of producing same, and the application of this structure towards the realization of photodetecting and photovoltaic devices working in the visible and the near-infrared. The three-dimensional bicontinuous heterostructure includes two interpenetrating layers which are spatially continuous, they are include only protrusions or peninsulas, and no islands. The method of producing the three-dimensional biocontinuous heterostructure relies on forming an essentially planar continuous bottom layer of a first material; forming a layer of this first material on top of the bottom layer which is textured to produce protrusions for subsequent interpenetration with a second material, coating this second material onto this structure; and forming a final coating with the second material that ensures that only the second material is contacted by subsequent layer. One of the materials includes visible and/or infrared-absorbing semiconducting quantum dot nanoparticles, and one of materials is a hole conductor and the other is an electron conductor.

Claims

1. A method of producing a light-sensing system on a semiconductor substrate having at least one integrated circuit device defined thereon, the method comprising:

forming a nanomaterial having at least one semiconductor quantum dot over the integrated circuit device; and

forming a three-dimensional bicontinuous heterostructure including at least two materials, with a first material formed on the semiconductor substrate and a second material located on the first material, the first material and the second material each having a structure that includes protrusions with substantially no islands, the protrusions from the first material penetrate into the second material forming an irregular interpenetrating interface between the first material and the second material.