Patents by Inventor Matthias Meusel

Matthias Meusel has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20240258450
    Abstract: A stacked, monolithic, upright metamorphic, terrestrial concentrator solar cell having exactly five subcells and having a metamorphic buffer, wherein a first subcell has a first lattice constant G1 and consists essentially of germanium, a second subcell has a second lattice constant and GaInAs, a third subcell has the second lattice constant G2 and AlGaInAs, a fourth subcell has the second lattice constant G2 and InP, a fifth subcell has the second lattice constant G2 and InP, G1<G2 applies to the lattice constants, the metamorphic buffer is arranged between the first subcell and the second subcell and has the first lattice constant G1 on a bottom side facing the first subcell and the second lattice constant G2 on a top side facing the second subcell, and all of the semiconductor layers of the concentrator solar cell arranged above the first subcell are epitaxially produced on the preceding subcell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 15, 2024
    Publication date: August 1, 2024
    Applicant: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Daniel FUHRMANN, Wolfgang GUTER, Matthias MEUSEL
  • Patent number: 11984523
    Abstract: A stacked, monolithic, upright metamorphic, terrestrial concentrator solar cell having exactly five subcells and having a metamorphic buffer, wherein a first subcell has a first lattice constant G1 and consists essentially of germanium, a second subcell has a second lattice constant and GaInAs, a third subcell has the second lattice constant G2 and AlGaInAs, a fourth subcell has the second lattice constant G2 and InP, a fifth subcell has the second lattice constant G2 and InP, G1<G2 applies to the lattice constants, the metamorphic buffer is arranged between the first subcell and the second subcell and has the first lattice constant G1 on a bottom side facing the first subcell and the second lattice constant G2 on a top side facing the second subcell, and all of the semiconductor layers of the concentrator solar cell arranged above the first subcell are epitaxially produced on the preceding subcell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2024
    Assignee: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Daniel Fuhrmann, Wolfgang Guter, Matthias Meusel
  • Patent number: 11728453
    Abstract: A stacked monolithic multijunction solar cell, which includes a first subcell having a p-n junction with an emitter layer and a base layer, the thickness of the emitter layer being less than the thickness of the base layer at least by a factor of ten, and the first subcell comprising a substrate having a semiconductor material from the groups III and V or a substrate from the group IV, and which further includes a second subcell arranged on the first subcell and a third subcell arranged on the second subcell, the two subcells each including an emitter layer and a base layer, and a tunnel diode and a back side field layer each being formed between the subcells, the thickness of the emitter layer being greater than the thickness of the base layer in each case between the second subcell and in the third subcell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Daniel Fuhrmann, Rosalinda Van Leest, Gregor Keller, Matthias Meusel
  • Patent number: 11588067
    Abstract: A monolithic multi-junction solar cell comprising a first III-V subcell and a second III-V subcell and a third III-V subcell and a fourth Ge subcell, wherein the subcells are stacked on top of one another in the specified order, and the first subcell forms the top subcell and a metamorphic buffer is formed between the third subcell and the fourth subcell and all subcells each have an n-doped emitter layer and a p-doped base layer and the emitter doping in the second subcell is lower than the base doping.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Matthias Meusel, Alexander Berg, Philipp Schroth
  • Patent number: 11527668
    Abstract: A stacked monolithic multi-junction solar cell having at least four subcells, wherein the band gap increases starting from the first subcell in the direction of the fourth subcell, each subcell has an n-doped emitter and a p-doped base, the emitter and the base of the first subcell each are formed of germanium, all following subcells each have at least one element of main group III and V of the periodic table, all subcells following the first subcell are formed lattice-matched to one another, a semiconductor mirror having a plurality of doped semiconductor layers with alternately different refractive indices is placed between the first and second subcell, the semiconductor layers of the semiconductor mirror are each formed n-doped and each have a dopant concentration of at most 5·1018 cm?3, the semiconductor mirror is placed between the first subcell and the first tunnel diode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Alexander Berg, Matthias Meusel
  • Patent number: 11374140
    Abstract: A monolithic metamorphic multi-junction solar cell comprising a first III-V subcell and a second III-V subcell and a third III-V subcell and a fourth Ge subcell, wherein the subcells are stacked on top of each other in the indicated order, and the first subcell forms the topmost subcell, and a metamorphic buffer is formed between the third subcell and the fourth subcell and all subcells each have an n-doped emitter layer and a p-doped base layer, and the emitter layer of the second subcell is greater than the base layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Matthias Meusel, Alexander Berg, Philipp Schroth, Susanne Schreier
  • Patent number: 11329182
    Abstract: A monolithic multiple solar cell includes at least three partial cells, with a semiconductor mirror placed between two partial cells. The aim of the invention is to improve the radiation stability of said solar cell. For this purpose, the semiconductor mirror has a high degree of reflection in at least one part of a spectral absorption area of the partial cell which is arranged above the semiconductor mirror and a high degree of transmission within the spectral absorption range of the partial cell arranged below the semiconductor mirror.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Matthias Meusel, Gerhard Strobl, Frank Dimroth, Andreas Bett
  • Publication number: 20220077342
    Abstract: A stacked monolithic multi-junction solar cell having at least four subcells, wherein the band gap increases starting from the first subcell in the direction of the fourth subcell, each subcell has an n-doped emitter and a p-doped base, the emitter and the base of the first subcell each have germanium or consist of germanium, all following subcells each have at least one element of main group III and V of the periodic table, a tunnel diode with a p-n junction is placed between each two subcells, all subcells following the first subcell are formed lattice-matched to one another, a semiconductor mirror having a plurality of doped semiconductor layers with alternately different refractive indices is placed between the first and second subcell, and the semiconductor mirror is placed between the first subcell and the first tunnel diode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2021
    Publication date: March 10, 2022
    Applicant: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Matthias MEUSEL, Alexander BERG, Wolfgang GUTER
  • Publication number: 20220077343
    Abstract: A stacked monolithic multi-junction solar cell having at least four subcells, wherein the band gap increases starting from the first subcell in the direction of the fourth subcell, each subcell has an n-doped emitter and a p-doped base, the emitter and the base of the first subcell each are formed of germanium, all following subcells each have at least one element of main group III and V of the periodic table, all subcells following the first subcell are formed lattice-matched to one another, a semiconductor mirror having a plurality of doped semiconductor layers with alternately different refractive indices is placed between the first and second subcell, the semiconductor layers of the semiconductor mirror are each formed n-doped and each have a dopant concentration of at most 5·1018 cm?3, the semiconductor mirror is placed between the first subcell and the first tunnel diode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2021
    Publication date: March 10, 2022
    Applicant: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Alexander BERG, Matthias MEUSEL
  • Publication number: 20220013678
    Abstract: A monolithic metamorphic multi-junction solar cell comprising a first III-V subcell and a second III-V subcell and a third III-V subcell and a fourth Ge subcell, wherein the subcells are stacked on top of each other in the indicated order, and the first subcell forms the topmost subcell, and a metamorphic buffer is formed between the third subcell and the fourth subcell and all subcells each have an n-doped emitter layer and a p-doped base layer, and the emitter layer of the second subcell is greater than the base layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2021
    Publication date: January 13, 2022
    Applicant: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Matthias MEUSEL, Alexander BERG, Philipp SCHROTH, Susanne SCHREIER
  • Publication number: 20220013679
    Abstract: A monolithic metamorphic multi-junction solar cell comprising a first III-V subcell and a second III-V subcell and a third III-V subcell and a fourth Ge subcell, wherein the subcells are stacked on top of each other in the indicated order, and the first subcell forms the topmost subcell, and a metamorphic buffer is formed between the third subcell and the fourth subcell and all subcells each have an n-doped emitter layer and a p-doped base layer, and the emitter layer of the second subcell is greater than the base layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2021
    Publication date: January 13, 2022
    Applicant: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Matthias MEUSEL, Daniel FUHRMANN
  • Publication number: 20220013677
    Abstract: A monolithic multi-junction solar cell comprising a first III-V subcell and a second III-V subcell and a third III-V subcell and a fourth Ge subcell, wherein the subcells are stacked on top of one another in the specified order, and the first subcell forms the top subcell and a metamorphic buffer is formed between the third subcell and the fourth subcell and all subcells each have an n-doped emitter layer and a p-doped base layer and the emitter doping in the second subcell is lower than the base doping.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2021
    Publication date: January 13, 2022
    Applicant: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Matthias MEUSEL, Alexander BERG, Philipp SCHROTH
  • Publication number: 20220013676
    Abstract: A stacked monolithic multijunction solar cell, which includes a first subcell having a p-n junction with an emitter layer and a base layer, the thickness of the emitter layer being less than the thickness of the base layer at least by a factor of ten, and the first subcell comprising a substrate having a semiconductor material from the groups III and V or a substrate from the group IV, and which further includes a second subcell arranged on the first subcell and a third subcell arranged on the second subcell, the two subcells each including an emitter layer and a base layer, and a tunnel diode and a back side field layer each being formed between the subcells, the thickness of the emitter layer being greater than the thickness of the base layer in each case between the second subcell and in the third subcell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2021
    Publication date: January 13, 2022
    Applicant: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Daniel FUHRMANN, Rosalinda VAN LEEST, Gregor KELLER, Matthias MEUSEL
  • Patent number: 11164983
    Abstract: A stacked multi-junction solar cell with a first subcell having a top and a bottom, and with a second subcell. The first subcell is implemented as the topmost subcell so that incident light first strikes the top of the first subcell and after that strikes the second subcell through the bottom. A first tunnel diode is arranged between the bottom of the first subcell and the second subcell. A window layer is arranged on the top of the first subcell, and the band gap of the window layer is larger than the band gap of the first subcell. A cover layer is arranged below metal fingers and above the window layer, and an additional layer is arranged below the cover layer and above the window layer. A thickness of the additional layer is less than the thickness of the window layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Matthias Meusel, Rosalinda Van Leest, Alexander Berg, Lilli Horst
  • Patent number: 11127873
    Abstract: A monolithic multijunction solar cell having exactly four subcells, an uppermost first subcell having a layer made up of a component having the elements AlInP, and the lattice constant a1 of the layer being between 0.572 nm and 0.577 nm, and the indium content being between 64% and 75%, and the Al content being between 18% and 32%, and the third subcell having a layer made up of a compound having at least the elements GaInAs, and the lattice constant of the layer being between 0.572 and 0.577, and the indium content of the layer being greater than 17%, and the second subcell comprising a layer including a compound which has at least the elements GaInAsP, the layer having an arsenic content between 22% and 33% and an indium content between 52% and 65%. and the lattice constant a2 being between 0.572 and 0.577.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventor: Matthias Meusel
  • Publication number: 20210210649
    Abstract: A monolithic multiple solar cell includes at least three partial cells, with a semiconductor mirror placed between two partial cells. The aim of the invention is to improve the radiation stability of said solar cell. For this purpose, the semiconductor mirror has a high degree of reflection in at least one part of a spectral absorption area of the partial cell which is arranged above the semiconductor mirror and a high degree of transmission within the spectral absorption range of the partial cell arranged below the semiconductor mirror.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2021
    Publication date: July 8, 2021
    Applicant: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GMBH
    Inventors: Matthias MEUSEL, Gerhard STROBL, Frank DIMROTH, Andreas BETT
  • Patent number: 10991840
    Abstract: A stacked multi-junction solar cell having a first subcell and second subcell, the second subcell having a larger band gap than the first subcell. A third subcell has a larger band gap than the second subcell, and each of the subcells include an emitter and a base. The second subcell has a layer which includes a compound formed at least the elements GaInAsP, and a thickness of the layer is greater than 100 nm, and the layer is formed as part of the emitter and/or as part of the base and/or as part of the space-charge zone situated between the emitter and the base. The third subcell has a layer including a compound formed of at least the elements GaInP, and the thickness of the layer is greater than 100 nm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Lars Ebel, Wolfgang Guter, Matthias Meusel
  • Patent number: 10985288
    Abstract: A monolithic multiple solar cell includes at least three partial cells, with a semiconductor mirror placed between two partial cells. The aim of the invention is to improve the radiation stability of said solar cell. For this purpose, the semiconductor mirror has a high degree of reflection in at least one part of a spectral absorption area of the partial cell which is arranged above the semiconductor mirror and a high degree of transmission within the spectral absorption range of the partial cell arranged below the semiconductor mirror.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2021
    Assignee: AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Matthias Meusel, Gerhard Strobl, Frank Dimroth, Andreas Bett
  • Publication number: 20210098642
    Abstract: A monolithic multijunction solar cell having exactly four subcells, an uppermost first subcell having a layer made up of a component having the elements AlInP, and the lattice constant a1 of the layer being between 0.572 nm and 0.577 nm, and the indium content being between 64% and 75%, and the Al content being between 18% and 32%, and the third subcell having a layer made up of a compound having at least the elements GaInAs, and the lattice constant of the layer being between 0.572 and 0.577, and the indium content of the layer being greater than 17%, and the second subcell comprising a layer including a compound which has at least the elements GaInAsP, the layer having an arsenic content between 22% and 33% and an indium content between 52% and 65%. and the lattice constant a2 being between 0.572 and 0.577.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 28, 2020
    Publication date: April 1, 2021
    Applicant: AZUR SPACE SOLAR POWER GMBH
    Inventor: Matthias MEUSEL
  • Patent number: 10833215
    Abstract: A multi-junction solar cell having a first subcell made of an InGaAs compound. The first subcell has a first lattice constant and A second subcell has a second lattice constant. The first lattice constant is at least 0.008 ? greater than the second lattice constant. A metamorphic buffer is formed between the first subcell and the second subcell and has a sequence of at least three layers and a lattice constant increases from layer to layer in the sequence in the direction toward the first subcell. The lattice constants of the layers of the buffer are greater than the second lattice constant, and a layer of the metamorphic buffer has a third lattice constant that is greater than the first lattice constant. A number N of compensation layers for compensating the residual stress of the metamorphic buffer is formed between the metamorphic buffer and the first subcell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignee: Azur Space Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Guter, Matthias Meusel, Frank Dimroth, Lars Ebel, Rene Kellenbenz