Translucent activities include:

	Optical Silicon / Photonics
	Advanced Semiconductor Materials
	Alternate Energy Materials

Optical Silicon / Photonics

Translucent was founded in 2001 through initial investment by Silex Systems, with the aim of developing an optically active form of silicon.

This development could push low-cost silicon into the photonics arena for the first time, delivering significant cost and performance benefits. If successful, Translucent's silicon photonics materials could have broad exposure in the growing photonics market for optical devices and visible light emitting diodes (LED's).

Advanced Semiconductor Materials

The second application of the Translucent technology is the development of advanced electronic materials for applications in the semiconductor chip industry. The relentless progress of the chip industry according to Moore’s Law is now under threat as conventional semiconductor materials struggle to perform at ever-decreasing nanoscale feature sizes. Example of specific materials solutions being developed by Translucent include the following:

Alternative energy - advanced materials

High Efficiency Solar Cells

The third application of Translucent’s advanced materials is for high efficiency solar energy conversion cells. This material exhibits the same functionality as demonstrated with Translucent’s optical silicon material.

The objective in this project is to significantly increase solar conversion efficiencies of today’s best silicon solar cells (with efficiencies of ~20%) via Translucent’s unique "Rare Earth Oxide" (REO) semiconductor films. This has the potential to break through the "single junction" barrier of conventional silicon solar cells without resorting to expensive alternative materials.

Solar Power Output vs Solar Spectrum

• Convensional Silicon solar cell conversion limited to a small window of solar photon energies close to the band-gap energy of silicon - single junction limitation.
• Using patented "rare earth oxide" materials → conversion efficiency increased by harnessing a far greater fraction of available energy in the solar spectrum.

Translucent’s unique materials solutions may also have potential application to thermoelectric energy conversion, that is, direct solid state conversion from heat to electricity, (without steam/gas turbines). Translucent filed a Patent application for this concept in 2006, and is investigating the applicability of its "Rare Earth Oxide" materials at its Palo Alto laboratories.

This project is still in the very early stage of development, and is expected to take a few years to complete.