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:
Oct. 11, 2011
Filed:
Sep. 18, 2009
James Fiorenza, Wilmington, MA (US);
Anthony Lochtefeld, Ipswich, MA (US);
Jie Bai, Bedford, MA (US);
Ji-soo Park, Methuen, MA (US);
Jennifer Hydrick, Kingston, NH (US);
Jizhong LI, Bordentown, NJ (US);
Zhiyuan Cheng, Lincoln, MA (US);
James Fiorenza, Wilmington, MA (US);
Anthony Lochtefeld, Ipswich, MA (US);
Jie Bai, Bedford, MA (US);
Ji-Soo Park, Methuen, MA (US);
Jennifer Hydrick, Kingston, NH (US);
Jizhong Li, Bordentown, NJ (US);
Zhiyuan Cheng, Lincoln, MA (US);
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Hsin-Chu, TW;
Abstract
Methods and structures are provided for formation of devices, e.g., solar cells, on substrates including, e.g., lattice-mismatched materials, by the use of aspect ratio trapping (ART) and epitaxial layer overgrowth (ELO). In general, in a first aspect, embodiments of the invention may include a method of forming a structure. The method includes forming a first opening in a masking layer disposed over a substrate that includes a first semiconductor material. A first layer, which includes a second semi-conductor material lattice-mismatched to the first semiconductor material, is formed within the first opening. The first layer has a thickness sufficient to extend above a top surface of the masking layer. A second layer, which includes the second semiconductor material, is formed on the first layer and over at least a portion of the masking layer. A vertical growth rate of the first layer is greater than a lateral growth rate of the first layer and a lateral growth rate of the second layer is greater than a vertical growth rate of the second layer.