US 2013/0171757 A1 · ADVANCED PLATFORM FOR PASSIVATING CRYSTALLINE SILICON SOLAR CELLS

Advanced platform for passivating crystalline silicon solar cells

OwnerHari K. Ponnekanti, Alexander S. Polyak +9inventors

InventorsHARI K. PONNEKANTI, Alexander S. Polyak, James L'Heureux, Michael S. Cox, Christopher T. Lane, Edward P. Hammond, IV, Hemant P. Mungekar, Susanne Schlaefer, Wolfgang Buschbeck, Juergen Henrich, Andreas Lopp

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Abstract

The present invention generally provides a high throughput substrate processing system that is used to form one or more regions of a solar cell device. In one configuration of a processing system, one or more solar cell passivating or dielectric layers are deposited and further processed within one or more processing chambers contained within the high throughput substrate processing system. The processing chambers may be, for example, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) chambers, low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) chambers, atomic layer deposition (ALD) chambers, physical vapor deposition (PVD) or sputtering chambers, thermal processing chambers (e.g., RTA or RTO chambers), substrate reorientation chambers (e.g., flipping chambers) and/or other similar processing chambers.

Claims21

Dependent claims

A solar cell processing system, comprising:

a substrate automation system having one or more conveyors that are configured to transfer substrates serially through a processing region in a first direction, wherein the processing region is maintained at a pressure below atmospheric pressure;
a first processing chamber having two or more first deposition sources disposed in the processing region, wherein each first deposition source is configured to separately deliver a processing gas to a surface of each of the substrates as the substrates are transferred through the processing region relative to the two or more first deposition sources;
and
a second processing chamber having two or more first deposition sources disposed in the processing region, wherein each second deposition source is configured to separately deliver a processing gas to the surface of each of the substrates as the substrates are transferred through the processing region relative to the two or more second deposition sources.

1 more element

A solar cell processing system, comprising:

a substrate automation system having two or more conveyors that are configured to transfer substrates through a processing region in a first direction, wherein the processing region is maintained at a pressure below atmospheric pressure;
two or more first deposition sources that are each disposed in the processing region, and disposed in a spaced apart relationship along the first direction and a distance from a first portion of one of the two or more conveyors, wherein each first deposition source is configured to separately deliver a first processing gas to the first portion of the conveyor as the substrates are transferred through the processing region relative to the two or more first deposition sources;
one or more first energy sources configured to deliver energy to a region formed between the first portion of the conveyor and one of the two or more first deposition sources;
and
two or more second deposition sources that are each disposed in the processing region, and disposed in a spaced apart relationship along the first direction and a distance from a second portion of one of the two or more conveyors, wherein each second deposition source is configured to separately deliver a second processing gas to the second portion of the conveyor as the substrates are transferred through the processing region relative to the two or more second deposition sources.

2 more elements

A method of forming a solar cell, comprising:

reducing the pressure in a processing region of a solar cell processing system to a pressure below atmospheric pressure;
positioning substrates on a substrate automation system that is at least partially disposed in the processing region, wherein the substrate automation system is configured to transfer substrates in a first direction through at least a portion of the processing region;
delivering a first processing gas from two or more first deposition sources that are each disposed in the processing region, wherein each of the two or more first deposition sources are configured to deliver the first processing gas to a deposition region formed between the first deposition source and at least one of the substrates positioned on the substrate automation system;
delivering a second processing gas from two or more second deposition sources that are each disposed in the processing region, wherein each of the two or more second deposition sources are configured to deliver the second processing gas to a deposition region formed between the second deposition source and at least one of the substrates positioned on the substrate automation system;
and
forming a plasma in each of the deposition regions by delivering energy from one or more sources.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application

13/732,662Filed 2 Jan 2013

Priority

3 Jan 2012

Published

4 Jul 2013

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification9 codes

C23C 14/568
Apparatus specially adapted for continuous coating; Arrangements for maintaining the vacuum, e.g. vacuum locks: transferring the substrates…
H10F 71/00
Manufacture or treatment of devices covered by this subclass
C23C 16/54
Characterised by the method of coating: apparatus specially adapted for continuous coating
H10P 72/0436
Apparatus for thermal treatment: mainly by radiation

Family

Application61/582,698Us provisional application · filed 3 Jan 2012

Application61/596,654Us provisional application · filed 8 Feb 2012

Application61/612,080Us provisional application · filed 16 Mar 2012

Application61/661,313Us provisional application · filed 18 Jun 2012

US 2013/0171757 A1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.