.beta.-silicon carbide protective coating and method for fabricating same
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy
InventorsPaul G. Carey, Jesse B. Thompson
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Abstract
A polycrystalline beta-silicon carbide film or coating and method for forming same on components, such as the top of solar cells, to act as an extremely hard protective surface, and as an anti-reflective coating. This is achieved by DC magnetron co-sputtering of amorphous silicon and carbon to form a SiC thin film onto a surface, such as a solar cell. The thin film is then irradiated by a pulsed energy source, such as an excimer laser, to synthesize the poly- or .mu.c-SiC film on the surface and produce .beta.--SiC. While the method of this invention has primary application in solar cell manufacturing, it has application wherever there is a requirement for an extremely hard surface.
Claims20
In a solar cell, the improvement comprising:
- an anti-reflective/protective coating of beta-silicon carbide on an outer surface of the solar cell;
- said coating having a thickness of 10 nm to 10 .mu..
A method for providing a solar cell with an antireflective/protective coating of beta-silicon carbide, comprising the steps of:
- co-sputtering a film of amorphous silicon and amorphous carbon on an external surface of a solar cell;
- and
- irradiating the thus formed film with pulsed energy thereby causing the formation of beta-silicon carbide.
In a method for producing a solar cell including a film of beta-silicon carbide having a Knoop hardness value of over 2000, the improvement comprising:
- codepositing a film of amorphous silicon and amorphous carbon on a solar cell;
- and
- directing a plurality of laser pulses onto the thus formed film to synthesize the film and produce beta-silicon carbide.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.