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US 2014/0273334 A1Published application
Method of manufacturing a photovoltaic device
AssigneeFirst Solar, Inc.
InventorsScott Christensen, Pawel Mrozek, Gang Xiong, San Yu
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Abstract
A method to improve CdTe-based photovoltaic device efficiency is disclosed, the method including steps for removing surface contaminants from a semiconductor absorber layer prior to the deposition or formation of a back contact layer on the semiconductor absorber layer, the surface contaminants removed using at least one of a dry etching process and a wet etching process.
Claims20
A method of manufacturing a photovoltaic device comprising the steps of:
- depositing a semiconductor absorber layer adjacent to a substrate;
- cleaning the semiconductor absorber layer to remove contaminants therefrom;
- and
- depositing a back contact layer adjacent to the semiconductor absorber layer.
1 more element
A method of manufacturing a photovoltaic device comprising the steps of:
- depositing a semiconductor absorber layer adjacent to a substrate;
- cleaning the semiconductor absorber layer to remove contaminants therefrom;
- removing surface moisture from the semiconductor absorber layer;
- and
- depositing a back contact layer adjacent to the semiconductor absorber layer.
2 more elements
A method of manufacturing a photovoltaic device comprising the steps of:
- depositing a CdTe semiconductor absorber layer adjacent to a substrate;
- cleaning the CdTe semiconductor absorber layer to remove contaminants therefrom using a dry etch and a wet etch;
- removing surface moisture from the CdTe semiconductor absorber layer;
- and
- depositing a ZnTe back contact layer adjacent to the CdTe semiconductor absorber layer.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.