Semiconductor structures for fuel generation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9947816-B2
Application number	US-201313856353-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 3, 2013
Priority date	Apr 3, 2012
Publication date	Apr 17, 2018
Grant date	Apr 17, 2018

Abstract

This disclosure relates to photovoltaic and photoelectrosynthetic cells, devices, methods of making and using the same.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An elongated structure comprising:
a first semiconductive material that includes a first radial junction and a transparent low resistance layer between the first semiconductive material and a second semiconductive material,
the second semiconductive material having an outer surface, wherein the second semiconductive material comprises WO 3 and wherein the outer surface of the second semiconductive material is in contact with a liquid;
the second semiconductive material and the first semiconductive material being different semiconductive materials and having different band gaps, the elongated structure having an aspect ratio of greater than 1, and
an outer surface distance changing along a length of a longitudinal axis of the elongated structure, the outer surface distance being a distance between the outer surface and the longitudinal axis and being measured from the longitudinal axis in a direction that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis to a portion of the second semiconductive material that is located furthest from the longitudinal axis in the direction that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.

2. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein the elongated structure has a dimension comprising 500 nm to about 10 micrometers in diameter and about 1 micrometer to 1 mm in length or wherein the elongated structure has a mean diameter less than 1 micrometer and a length of less than 1 micrometer and an aspect ratio of greater than 1.

3. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein the first semiconductive material is Si.

4. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein the elongated structure is substantially embedded in a material selected from the group consisting of glass, polymer and wax.

5. The elongated structure of claim 4 , wherein the material forms a membrane comprising the elongated structure embedded in the material extending from and/or through a first surface to and/or through a second surface of the membrane.

6. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein one end or both ends of the elongated structure are coated with a catalyst.

7. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein an end of the elongated structure is flat.

8. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein:
the first semiconductive material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of crystalline Si, multicrystalline Si, GaAs, InP, CdTe and alloys of any of the foregoing, and group IV metal dichalcogenides; and
the transparent low resistance layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of indium tin oxide (ITO), fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO), and TiO 2 .

9. The elongated structure of claim 8 , wherein the group IV metal dichalcogenides are selected from the group consisting of MoS 2 , WS 2 , MoSe 2 , and WSe 2 .

10. A solar cell comprising the elongated structure of claim 1 .

11. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein the transparent low resistance layer includes a material selected from the group consisting of indium tin oxide (ITO), aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO), fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO), gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO), ITO:ZnO, ITO:Ti, In 2 O 3 , indium zinc oxide (IZO), In 2 O 3 :M (wherein M is Ti, Mo, Ga, W, Zr, or Nb), borin-doped zinc oxide (BZO), Al 2 O 3 , MnO, MgO and graphene, and
the first semiconductive material is selected from the group consisting of doped Si, undoped Si, GaAs, InP, CdTe, alloys of any of the foregoing, and group IV metal dichalcogenides.

12. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein the outer surface distance changes such that the elongated structure has a shape selected from the group consisting of a cone, pyramid, inverse opal, ellipsoid, branched wire, horn, and a dual radii wire.

13. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein the outer surface distance changes such that at least a portion of the elongated structure has a cone shape.

14. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein an inner region of the first semiconductive material contacts an outer region of the first semiconductive material at the first radial junction, the inner region and the outer being doped so as to have opposing dopant polarities; and
the second semiconductive material being doped so as to have the same dopant polarity as the inner region.

15. The elongated structure of claim 14 , wherein an inner surface of the second semiconductive material is in physical contact with the transparent low resistance layer.

16. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein an inner surface of the second semiconductive material is in physical contact with the transparent low resistance layer.

17. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein the second semiconductive material surrounds the first radial junction.

18. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein the liquid contacts the outer surface of the second semiconductive material so as to form a second radial junction that is a photoactive junction.

19. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein a cap portion of the second semiconductive material is positioned over an end of the first semiconductive material and the cap portion has an outside surface that is flat.

20. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein a cap portion of the second semiconductive material is positioned over an end of the first semiconductive material and the cap portion has an outside surface that is curved.

21. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein an outside surface of a cap portion of the second semiconductive material is curved such that the outside surface becomes closer to an end of the first semiconductive material as the outside surface approaches the longitudinal axis.

22. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein a second distance between a perimeter surface of the first semiconductive material and the longitudinal axis is constant along a second length of the longitudinal axis where the second distance is measured perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.

23. The elongated structure of claim 1 , wherein a second distance between a perimeter surface of the first semiconductive material and the longitudinal axis changes along a second length of the longitudinal axis where the second distance is measured perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.

Assignees

• California Inst Of Techn

Inventors

• Ardo Shane
• Shaner Matthew
• Coridan Robert
• Strandwitz Nicholas C
• Mckone James R
• Fountaine Katherine
• Atwater Harry A
• Lewis Nathan S

Classifications

• H01L31/035227

  Electricity · mapped topic

• Y02E60/364

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H01L31/035281 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• C25B1/003

  Chemistry & Metallurgy · mapped topic

• C01B3/042

  Decomposition of water (by electrolysis of water C25B1/04) · CPC title