Patent ID: 9263612
Filing Date: 2016-02-16
CPC Classification: H01L,Y02E,Y02P

Claim Text:
1. A microstructure for converting solar energy to electricity comprising: a vertically aligned array of semiconducting rods of a first semiconductive material epitaxially coated with a coating material of a second semiconductive material comprising a III-V material having a band-gap wider than the band-gap of the semiconducting rods of the vertically aligned array of semiconducting rods, wherein the first semiconductive material directly contacts the second semiconductive material and forms a heterojunction, wherein the coating material absorbs a first portion of incident light and the semiconducting rods absorb a second portion of the incident light, wherein each rod of the vertically aligned array of semiconductor rods has a diameter of 1 to about 10 micrometers and wherein the coating material is about 0.5 micrometers to about 2.5 micrometers thick and absorbs from 34% to 80% of photons having energies above the band-gap of the coating material, and wherein the optical adsorption of the microstructure is enhanced by the coating material having a substantially rough surface.