Method of making large-area semiconductor thin films formed at low temperature using nanocrystal presursors
AssigneeStarfire Electronic Development & Marketing, Ltd.
InventorAvery N. Goldstein
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A continuous semiconductor thin film is formed by providing a sheet of a substrate material and applying a continuous layer of nanocrystals of the semiconductor material onto the substrate. The layer of nanocrystals is melted at a temperature below that of the bulk, but which is nonetheless adequate to melt the nanocrystals and cause them to fuse into a continuous thin film which forms a solid upon cooling. The nanocrystals may be sprayed onto the substrate, either from the liquid or gas phase. The substrate sheet is preferably tensioned during the application of the nanocrystalline layer, for example, with a set of rollers is used to provide the tensioning at a predetermined feed rate.
Claims19
The method of forming a continuous thin film of a semiconductor material onto a substrate, comprising the steps of:
- providing a sheet of a substrate material;
- tensioning the sheet;
- applying a continuous layer of nanocrystals of the semiconductor material;
- heating the layer of nanocrystals at a temperature below that of the bulk melting temperature, but which is nonetheless adequate to melt the nanocrystals and cause them to fuse into a continuous thin film;
- and
- cooling the thin film to form a solid.
The method of forming a continuous thin film of a semiconductor material onto a substrate, comprising the steps of:
- providing a sheet of a substrate material;
- applying a continuous layer of nanocrystals of the semiconductor material by depositing the nanocrystals from the gas phase;
- heating the layer of nanocrystals at a temperature below that of the bulk melting temperature, but which is nonetheless adequate to melt the nanocrystals and cause them to fuse into a continuous thin film;
- and
- cooling the thin film to form a solid.
The method of forming a continuous thin film of a semiconductor material onto a substrate, comprising the steps of:
- providing a sheet of a substrate material;
- applying a continuous layer of nanocrystals of the semiconductor material in powder form;
- heating the layer of nanocrystals at a temperature below that of the bulk melting temperature, but which is nonetheless adequate to melt the nanocrystals and cause them to fuse into a continuous thin film;
- and
- cooling the thin film to form a solid.
The method of forming a continuous thin film of a semiconductor material onto a substrate, comprising the steps of:
- providing a sheet of a substrate material;
- preparing a layer of nanocrystals of the semiconductor material in the form of a polymeric tape;
- transferring the tape layer to an area of the substrate;
- heating the layer of nanocrystals at a temperature below that of the bulk melting temperature, but which is nonetheless adequate to melt the nanocrystals and cause them to fuse into a continuous thin film;
- and
- cooling the thin film to form a solid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.