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Sunovia Energy Technologies, Inc., and its partner EPIR Technologies, Inc., have announced that the United States Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a second contract to EPIR Technologies to provide improved infrared (IR) detectors to be used in a new generation of tools for the inspection and characterization of IR materials and products.

The advanced tools, known as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) materials characterization and inspection tools, are used to characterize semiconductor material properties in a nondestructive manner. These tools are also used to inspect the product for quality control without damaging it making them particularly useful in semiconductor production environments.

These ultra-high-efficiency solar cells are being developed to outperform the most efficient solar cells produced at present but cost a fraction of the amount. The infrared detectors to be produced under the DOE contract are based on II-VI materials, similar to those used in ultra-high-efficiency multi-junction solar cells that are being jointly developed by Sunovia and EPIR.

Dr. Siva Sivananthan, founder and CEO of EPIR said, "The single-crystal II-VI materials we have developed for infrared applications can be tuned more precisely and to a wider degree than those of the materials currently used in ultra-high-efficiency solar cells. This allows us to more efficiently split the solar spectrum and thus achieve higher performance solar cells."

"Government funding is an important element in the early success of the Sunovia-EPIR partnership, not only for its financial impact but also because it demonstrates the value of the advanced technology we are jointly developing," said Carl Smith, co-founder and CEO of Sunovia.