The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Dec. 03, 2019

Filed:

Mar. 24, 2017
Applicant:

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc., Cambridge, MA (US);

Inventors:

Chungwei Lin, Boston, MA (US);

Bingnan Wang, Belmont, MA (US);

Koon Hoo Teo, Lexington, MA (US);

Attorneys:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 31/054 (2014.01); H01L 31/0216 (2014.01); H02S 10/30 (2014.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 31/054 (2014.12); H01L 31/02167 (2013.01); H02S 10/30 (2014.12); Y02E 10/52 (2013.01);
Abstract

A thermophotovoltaic (TPV) energy converter includes a thermal emitter to generate photons of energy in response to receiving heat and a thermal receiver arranged at a distance from the thermal emitter. The thermal receiver includes a photovoltaic cell converting the received photons into electric energy. The thermal emitter includes a first layer of material arranged on a surface of the thermal emitter closest to the thermal receiver. The thermal receiver includes a second layer of material arranged on a surface of the thermal receiver closest to the thermal emitter. The first layer of material and the second layer of material have surface resonant frequencies above a bandgap of the photovoltaic cell.


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