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.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 03, 1979
Filed:
Mar. 31, 1978
John F Jordan, El Paso, TX (US);
Curtis M Lampkin, El Paso, TX (US);
Photon Power, Inc., El Paso, TX (US);
Abstract
A photovoltaic cell having an electrically conductive substrate, which may be glass having a film of conductive tin oxide; a first layer containing a suitable semiconductor, which layer has a first component film with an amorphous structure and a second component film with a polycrystalline structure; a second layer forming a heterojunction with the first layer; and suitable electrodes where the heterojunction is formed from a solution containing copper, the amorphous film component is superposed above an electrically conductive substrate to resist permeation of the copper-containing material to shorting electrical contact with the substrate. The penetration resistant amorphous layer permits a variety of processes to be used in forming the heterojunction with even very thin layers (1-6.mu. thick) of underlying polycrystalline semi-conductor materials. In some embodiments, the amorphous-like structure may be formed by the addition of aluminum or zirconium compounds to a solution of cadmium salts sprayed over a heated substrate.