Patent ID: 11955574
Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
Field: Semiconductors (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  Y | IPC H

Claim 0:
1. A multi-level photovoltaic cell, comprising:
a substrate layer;
a plurality of photovoltaic cells positioned above the substrate layer, each photovoltaic cell surrounded by an insulating layer and comprising a top contact layer having a first metal contact and a bottom contact layer having a second metal contact connected in series by a metallic connector, the first metal contact and the second metal contact embedded within the insulating layer, the metallic connector having a proximal horizontal end and a distal horizontal end connected at right angles to a vertical body such that the vertical body extends downward perpendicularly to the substrate layer thereby connecting the first metal contact of a first photovoltaic cell via the proximal horizontal end to the second metal contact of a next photovoltaic cell via the distal horizontal end until a last photovoltaic cell is connected, wherein a different voltage is output between the substrate layer and the top contact layer of each photovoltaic cell, and wherein at least two photovoltaic cells of the plurality of photovoltaic cells have different surface areas; and
a photodetector sharing a common ground with each photovoltaic cell.