Method of making a thermally treated coated article with transparent conductive oxide (TCO) coating for use in a semiconductor device
AssigneeGuardian Industries Corp.
InventorAlexey Krasnov
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Abstract
A method of making a coated article including a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) film supported by a glass substrate is provided. Initially, an amorphous metal oxide film is sputter-deposited onto a glass substrate, either directly or indirectly. The glass substrate with the amorphous film and a semiconductor film thereon is then thermally treated at high temperature(s). The thermal treating causes the amorphous film to be transformed into a crystalline transparent conductive oxide (TCO) film. The heat used in the thermal treating causes the amorphous film to turn into a crystalline film, causes the visible transmission of the film to increase, and/or causes the film to become electrically conductive.
Claims18
A method of making a heat treated device including a semiconductor film and a transparent conductive metal oxide (TCO) film on a glass substrate, the method comprising:
- providing a glass substrate;
- sputter-depositing a substantially amorphous metal oxide based film comprising Sn and Sb on the glass substrate at approximately room temperature;
- forming a semiconductor film on the glass substrate over the substantially amorphous metal oxide based film;
- heat treating the glass substrate with the substantially amorphous metal oxide based film comprising Sn and Sb and the semiconductor film thereon;
- and
- wherein heat used in said heat treating causes the substantially amorphous film to transform into a substantially crystalline film comprising Sn and Sb, and wherein the substantially crystalline film is transparent to visible light and electrically conductive.
A method of making a heated treated device including a semiconductor film and a transparent conductive metal oxide (TCO) film on a glass substrate, the method comprising:
- providing a glass substrate;
- sputter-depositing a substantially amorphous metal oxide based film comprising ZnAlOx:Ag and/or ZnAlOx on the glass substrate at approximately room temperature;
- forming a semiconductor film on the glass substrate over the substantially amorphous metal oxide based film;
- heat treating the glass substrate with the substantially amorphous metal oxide based film comprising ZnAlOx:Ag and/or ZnAlOx and the semiconductor film thereon;
- and
- wherein heat used in said heat treating causes the substantially amorphous film to transform into a substantially crystalline film comprising ZnAlOx:Ag and/or ZnAlOx, and wherein the substantially crystalline film is transparent to visible light and electrically conductive.
A method of making a heated treated device including a semiconductor film and a transparent conductive metal oxide (TCO) film on a glass substrate, the method comprising:
- providing a glass substrate;
- sputter-depositing a metal oxide based film comprising ZnAlOx:Ag and/or ZnAlOx on the glass substrate at approximately room temperature;
- forming a semiconductor film on the glass substrate over the metal oxide based film;
- heat treating the glass substrate with the metal oxide based film comprising ZnAlOx:Ag and/or ZnAlOx, and the semiconductor film thereon, so that following said heat treating the film comprising ZnAlOx:Ag and/or ZnAlOx is electrically conductive and substantially transparent to at least visible light.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.