The Penn State Research Foundation

Lccm Solar, LLC

Solarity, LLC

Handong Li

Stephen J Fonash

David Stone

Daniel Hayes

Joseph D Cuiffi

Youngchul Lee

A nanostructured or microstructured array of elements on a conductor layer together form a device electrode of a photovoltaic or detector structure. The array on the conductor layer has a high surface area to volume ratio configuration defining a void matrix between elements. An active layer or active layer precursors is disposed into the void matrix as a liquid to form a thickness coverage giving an interface on which a counter-electrode is positioned parallel to the conduction layer or as a vapor to form a conformal thickness coverage of the array and conduction layer. The thickness coverage is controlled to enhance collection of at least one of electrons and holes arising from photogeneration, or excitons arising from photogeneration, to the device electrode or a device counter-electrode as well as light absorption in said active layer via reflection and light trapping of said device electrode.

Lateral collection photovoltaics

Lateral collection photovoltaic (LCP) structures based on micro- and nano-collecting elements are used to collect photogenerated carriers. In one set of embodiments, the collecting elements are arrayed on a conducting substrate. In certain versions, the collecting elements are substantially perpendicular to the conductor. In another set of embodiments, the micro- or nano-scale collecting elements do not have direct physical and electrical contact to any conducting substrate. In one version, both anode and cathode electrodes are laterally arrayed. In another version, the collecting elements of one electrode are a composite wherein a conductor is separated by an insulator, which is part of each collector element, from the opposing electrode residing on the substrate. In still another version, the collection of one electrode structure is a composite containing both the anode and the cathode collecting elements for collection. An active material is positioned among the collector elements.

The invention relates to methods for preparing a removable system on a mother substrate. The method deposits a high surface to volume sacrificial layer on a mother substrate and stabilizes the sacrificial layer by a) removing volatile chemical species in and on the sacrificial layer and/or b) modifying the surface of the layer. The method coats over the sacrificial layer with a capping medium. A system is the fabricated on the capping medium. The method provides through holes to access the sacrificial layer. The method may also apply a top layer onto the system to form a covered system. The invention also includes the step of removing the sacrificial layer to release the system from the mother substrate. Methods of the invention also include selectively removing a portion of the system and capping layers to form void regions defining an array of islands composed of device, structure, or system and capping layer regions, and optionally filling the island-defining void region with a sacrificial material. In such methods the sacrificial material and the high surface to volume sacrificial layer are removed to release the system from the mother substrate. Methods of the invention also include applying a layer to the capping material side of the released system to form a configuration wherein the system is substantially within a bending-stress reduced neutral plane. The systems fabricated according to the invention may be placed on a wide variety of suitable substrates, including flexible substrates.

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Handong Li