Patent ID: 8841544

Claim:
A photovoltaic device, comprising: a substrate having a textured surface comprised of a silicon-based material, the textured surface including: a plurality of cones uniformly distributed across the textured surface; and the plurality of cones being uniformly distributed and configured by etching from a top surface of the substrate using a self-assembled solder dot mask evaporated on the substrate prior to etching, the plurality of cones being uniformly distributed as a result of gettering a process chamber prior to forming the solder dot mask, the plurality of cones having a height/width ratio between about 1 to about 4, wherein the plurality of cones have a uniform density of between 1 cone per 1.1 micron and 1 cone per 4 microns in all directions; and a continuous photovoltaic stack conformally formed over the substrate and extending over and between the plurality of cones to form a three-dimensional structure, the continuous photovoltaic stack comprising doped layers of polycrystalline silicon or microcrystalline silicon and an intrinsic layer of amorphous silicon, the continuous photovoltaic stack being configured to transduce incident radiation into current flow.