Abstract: A Group II-VI photovoltaic solar cell comprising at least two and as many as five subcells stacked upon one another. Each subcell has an emitter layer and a base layer, with the base of the first subcell being made of silicon, germanium, or silicon-germanium. The remaining subcells are stacked on top of the first subcell and are ordered such that the band gap gets progressively smaller with each successive subcell. Moreover, the thicknesses of each subcell are optimized so that the current from each subcell is substantially equal to the other subcells in the stack. Examples of suitable Group II-VI semiconductors include CdTe, CdSe, CdSeTe, CdZnTe, CdMgTe, and CdHgTe.

Abstract: A nonmagnetic semiconductor device which may be utilized as a spin resonant tunnel diode (spin RTD) and spin transistor, in which low applied voltages and/or magnetic fields are used to control the characteristics of spin-polarized current flow. The nonmagnetic semiconductor device exploits the properties of bulk inversion asymmetry (BIA) in (110)-oriented quantum wells. The nonmagnetic semiconductor device may also be used as a nonmagnetic semiconductor spin valve and a magnetic field sensor. The spin transistor and spin valve may be applied to low-power and/or high-density and/or high-speed logic technologies. The magnetic field sensor may be applied to high-speed hard disk read heads. The spin RTD of the present invention would be useful for a plurality of semiconductor spintronic devices for spin injection and/or spin detection.

Abstract: A Group II-VI photovoltaic solar cell comprising at least two and as many as five subcells stacked upon one another. Each subcell has an emitter layer and a base layer, with the base of the first subcell being made of silicon, germanium, or silicon-germanium. The remaining subcells are stacked on top of the first subcell and are ordered such that the band gap gets progressively smaller with each successive subcell. Moreover, the thicknesses of each subcell are optimized so that the current from each subcell is substantially equal to the other subcells in the stack. Examples of suitable Group II-VI semiconductors include CdTe, CdSe, CdSeTe, CdZnTe, CdMgTe, and CdHgTe.

Abstract: A nonmagnetic semiconductor device which may be utilized as a spin resonant tunnel diode (spin RTD) and spin transistor, in which low applied voltages and/or magnetic fields are used to control the characteristics of spin-polarized current flow. The nonmagnetic semiconductor device exploits the properties of bulk inversion asymmetry (BIA) in (110)-oriented quantum wells. The nonmagnetic semiconductor device may also be used as a nonmagnetic semiconductor spin valve and a magnetic field sensor. The spin transistor and spin valve may be applied to low-power and/or high-density and/or high-speed logic technologies. The magnetic field sensor may be applied to high-speed hard disk read heads. The spin RTD of the present invention would be useful for a plurality of semiconductor spintronic devices for spin injection and/or spin detection.

Abstract: A nonmagnetic semiconductor device which may be utilized as a spin resonant tunnel diode (spin RTD) and spin transistor, in which low applied voltages and/or magnetic fields are used to control the characteristics of spin-polarized current flow. The nonmagnetic semiconductor device exploits the properties of bulk inversion asymmetry (BIA) in (110)-oriented quantum wells. The nonmagnetic semiconductor device may also be used as a nonmagnetic semiconductor spin valve and a magnetic field sensor. The spin transistor and spin valve may be applied to low-power and/or high-density and/or high-speed logic technologies. The magnetic field sensor may be applied to high-speed hard disk read heads. The spin RTD of the present invention would be useful for a plurality of semiconductor spintronic devices for spin injection and/or spin detection.