| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080236665 | Method for Rapid Liquid Phase Deposition of Crystalline Si Thin Films on Large Glass Substrates for Solar Cell Applications - A method for liquid phase deposition of crystalline silicon thin films, and a high efficiency solar cell that is fabricated using crystalline silicon thin film technology, has the performance of a crystal silicon solar cell, but at the cost level per unit area of a solar cell fabricated using an amorphous silicon thin film. The crystal thin film uses only 10% or less of the amount of silicon used in a wafer-based solar cell. Because of the maturity of silicon technology in semiconductor industry, this approach not only enables high volume, automated production of solar cells on a very large, low-cost substrate, but also increases the area throughput up to 10000 cm | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080241356 | PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES MANUFACTURED USING CRYSTALLINE SILICON THIN FILMS ON GLASS - A method for fabricating an array of interconnected photovoltaic cells on a single substrate is disclosed. A silicon nitride (SiNx) layer is deposited onto a glass substrate for use as both a diffusion barrier and as an anti-reflection coating (ARC); an n | 10-02-2008 |
| 20090050468 | CONTROLLED SURFACE OXIDATION OF ALUMINUM INTERCONNECT - An aluminum interconnect metallization for an integrated circuit is controllably oxidized in a pure oxygen ambient with the optional addition of argon. It is advantageously performed as the wafer is cooled from above 300° C. occurring during aluminum sputtering to less than 100° C. allowing the aluminized wafer to be loaded into a plastic cassette. Oxidation may controllably occur in a pass-through chamber between a high-vacuum and a low-vacuum transfer chamber. The oxygen partial pressure is advantageously in the range of 0.01 to 1 Torr, preferably 0.1 to 0.5 Torr. The addition of argon to a total pressure of greater than 1 Torr promotes wafer cooling when the wafer is placed on a water-cooled pedestal. To prevent oxygen backflow into the sputter chambers, the cool down chamber is not vacuum pumped during cooling and first argon and then oxygen are pulsed into the chamber. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090053888 | Method of depositing a diffusion barrier layer which provides an improved interconnect - A method of depositing a duffusion barrier layer with overlying conductive layer or fill which lowers resistivity of a semiconductor device interconnect. The lower resistivity is achieved by inducing the formation of alpha tantalum within a tantalum-comprising barrier layer. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090233438 | SELF-IONIZED AND INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA FOR SPUTTERING AND RESPUTTERING - A magnetron sputter reactor for sputtering deposition materials such as tantalum, tantalum nitride and copper, for example, and its method of use, in which self-ionized plasma (SIP) sputtering and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) sputtering are promoted, either together or alternately, in the same or different chambers. Also, bottom coverage may be thinned or eliminated by ICP resputtering in one chamber and SIP in another. SIP is promoted by a small magnetron having poles of unequal magnetic strength and a high power applied to the target during sputtering. ICP is provided by one or more RF coils which inductively couple RF energy into a plasma. The combined SIP-ICP layers can act as a liner or barrier or seed or nucleation layer for hole. In addition, an RF coil may be sputtered to provide protective material during ICP resputtering. In another chamber an array of auxiliary magnets positioned along sidewalls of a magnetron sputter reactor on a side towards the wafer from the target. The magnetron preferably is a small, strong one having a stronger outer pole of a first magnetic polarity surrounding a weaker outer pole of a second magnetic polarity and rotates about the central axis of the chamber. The auxiliary magnets preferably have the first magnetic polarity to draw the unbalanced magnetic field component toward the wafer. The auxiliary magnets may be either permanent magnets or electromagnets. | 09-17-2009 |
| 20090255574 | SOLAR CELL FABRICATED BY SILICON LIQUID-PHASE DEPOSITION - One embodiment of the present invention provides a solar cell. The solar cell includes a substrate; a polycrystalline Si (poly-Si) thin-film layer which includes a p | 10-15-2009 |
| 20100065111 | SOLAR CELLS FABRICATED BY USING CVD EPITAXIAL SI FILMS ON METALLURGICAL-GRADE SI WAFERS - One embodiment of the present invention provides a method for fabricating a solar cell. The method includes: melting a metallurgical-grade (MG) Si feedstock, lowering a single-crystalline Si seed to touch the surface of the molten MG-Si, slowly pulling out a single-crystal Si ingot of the molten MG-Si, processing the Si ingot into single crystal Si wafers to form MG-Si substrates for subsequent epitaxial growth, leaching out residual metal impurities in the MG-Si substrate, epitaxially growing a layer of single-crystal Si thin film doped with boron on the MG-Si substrate, doping phosphor to the single-crystal Si thin film to form an emitter layer, depositing an anti-reflection layer on top of the single-crystal Si thin film, and forming the front and the back electrical contacts. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100229927 | HETEROJUNCTION SOLAR CELL BASED ON EPITAXIAL CRYSTALLINE-SILICON THIN FILM ON METALLURGICAL SILICON SUBSTRATE DESIGN - One embodiment of the present invention provides a heterojunction solar cell. The solar cell includes a metallurgical-grade Si (MG-Si) substrate, a layer of heavily doped crystalline-Si situated above the MG-Si substrate, a layer of lightly doped crystalline-Si situated above the heavily doped crystalline-Si layer, a backside ohmic-contact layer situated on the backside of the MG-Si substrate, a passivation layer situated above the heavily doped crystalline-Si layer, a layer of heavily doped amorphous Si (a-Si) situated above the passivation layer, a layer of transparent-conducting-oxide (TCO) situated above the heavily doped a-Si layer, and a front ohmic-contact electrode situated above the TCO layer. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100258168 | SILICON-BASED DIELECTRIC STACK PASSIVATION OF SI-EPITAXIAL THIN-FILM SOLAR CELLS - One embodiment of the present invention provides a solar cell. The solar cell includes a metallurgical-grade Si (MG-Si) substrate, a first layer of heavily doped crystalline-Si situated above the MG-Si substrate, a layer of lightly doped crystalline-Si situated above the first heavily doped crystalline-Si layer, a backside ohmic-contact layer situated on the backside of the MG-Si substrate, a second layer of heavily doped crystalline-Si situated above the lightly doped crystalline-Si layer, a first layer of dielectric situated above the second heavily doped crystalline-Si layer, a second layer of dielectric situated above the first dielectric layer, and front electrodes situated above the second dielectric layer. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100300506 | LOW-COST HIGH-EFFICIENCY SOLAR MODULE USING EPITAXIAL SI THIN-FILM ABSORBER AND DOUBLE-SIDED HETEROJUNCTION SOLAR CELL WITH INTEGRATED MODULE FABRICATION - One embodiment of the present invention provides a double-sided heterojunction solar cell module. The solar cell includes a frontside glass cover, a backside glass cover situated below the frontside glass cover, and a number of solar cells situated between the frontside glass cover and the backside glass cover. Each solar cell includes a semiconductor multilayer structure situated below the frontside glass cover, including: a frontside electrode grid, a first layer of heavily doped amorphous Si (a-Si) situated below the frontside electrode, a layer of lightly doped crystalline-Si (c-Si) situated below the first layer of heavily doped a-Si, and a layer of heavily doped c-Si situated below the lightly doped c-Si layer. The solar cell also includes a second layer of heavily doped a-Si situated below the multilayer structure; and a backside electrode situated below the second layer of heavily doped a-Si. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100300507 | HIGH EFFICIENCY LOW COST CRYSTALLINE-SI THIN FILM SOLAR MODULE - One embodiment of the present invention provides a double-sided heterojunction solar cell module. The solar cell includes a frontside glass cover, a backside cover situated below the frontside glass cover, and a number of solar cells situated between the frontside glass cover and the backside glass cover. Each solar cell includes a semiconductor multilayer structure situated below the frontside glass cover, including: a frontside electrode grid, a first layer of heavily doped amorphous Si (a-Si) situated below the frontside electrode, a layer of lightly doped crystalline-Si (c-Si) situated below the first layer of heavily doped a-Si, and a layer of heavily doped c-Si situated below the lightly doped c-Si layer. The solar cell also includes a second layer of heavily doped a-Si situated below the multilayer structure; and a backside electrode situated below the second layer of heavily doped a-Si. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20110108100 | ALUMINUM GRID AS BACKSIDE CONDUCTOR ON EPITAXIAL SILICON THIN FILM SOLAR CELLS - One embodiment of the present invention provides a solar cell. The solar cell includes a substrate, a first heavily doped crystalline-Si (c-Si) layer situated above the substrate, a lightly doped c-Si layer situated above the first heavily doped crystalline-Si layer, a second heavily doped c-Si layer situated above the lightly doped c-Si layer, a front side electrode grid situated above the second heavily doped c-Si layer, and a backside electrode grid situated on the backside of the substrate. | 05-12-2011 |
