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:
Dec. 10, 2013
Filed:
Jan. 12, 2011
Rebekah K. Feist, Midland, MI (US);
Marty W. Degroot, Midland, MI (US);
Todd R. Bryden, Midland, MI (US);
Joseph George, Midland, MI (US);
Rebekah K. Feist, Midland, MI (US);
Marty W. DeGroot, Midland, MI (US);
Todd R. Bryden, Midland, MI (US);
Joseph George, Midland, MI (US);
Dow Global Technologies LLC, Midland, MI (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides strategies for providing photovoltaic devices that are more resistant to moisture and/or oxygen degradation and the accompanying migration of key elements such as Na, Li, and the lanthanoid series of elements from the absorber layer and that have enhanced service life and improved performance. These strategies are particularly useful in the fabrication of chalcogenide-based photovoltaic devices such as chalcogenide-based solar cells. These strategies incorporate a barrier region between the photovoltaic absorber region and the front side collection grid. The barrier region keeps moisture and/or oxygen from the absorber layer and contains key elements such as Na, Li, and Ln in the absorber layer. As a result, the absorber layer retains its performance capabilities for an extended period of time.