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:
Mar. 28, 2000
Filed:
Feb. 19, 1998
Tomonori Nishimoto, Kyotanabe, JP;
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A photovoltaic device and a photoelectric transducer having a pin-structure semiconductor layer formed by superposing a p-type semiconductor layer, an i-type semiconductor layer and an n-type semiconductor layer wherein the i-type semiconductor layer comprises a non-single crystal semiconductor and average grain size distribution of crystal grains of the i-type semiconductor layer is not uniform are provided. Methods of manufacturing the photovoltaic device and the photoelectric transducer are also provided. The manufacturing methods according to the invention can produce photovoltaic devices and photoelectric transducers having an excellent photoelectric conversion efficiency and a remarkable optical stability at an enhanced rate and at low cost.