US20140356105A1 - Bell jar extraction tool method and apparatus for thin film photovoltaic materials - Google Patents
Bell jar extraction tool method and apparatus for thin film photovoltaic materials Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20140356105A1 US20140356105A1 US14/462,866 US201414462866A US2014356105A1 US 20140356105 A1 US20140356105 A1 US 20140356105A1 US 201414462866 A US201414462866 A US 201414462866A US 2014356105 A1 US2014356105 A1 US 2014356105A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- bell jar
- chamber
- support members
- jar chamber
- rack fixture
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 83
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims description 66
- 239000010409 thin film Substances 0.000 title abstract description 31
- 238000000605 extraction Methods 0.000 title description 2
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 23
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 claims description 19
- 239000010453 quartz Substances 0.000 claims description 13
- VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N silicon dioxide Inorganic materials O=[Si]=O VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 13
- 230000005484 gravity Effects 0.000 claims description 11
- 229920004943 Delrin® Polymers 0.000 claims description 6
- DHKHKXVYLBGOIT-UHFFFAOYSA-N acetaldehyde Diethyl Acetal Natural products CCOC(C)OCC DHKHKXVYLBGOIT-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- 125000002777 acetyl group Chemical class [H]C([H])([H])C(*)=O 0.000 claims description 3
- 229940029329 intrinsic factor Drugs 0.000 claims description 2
- 230000004323 axial length Effects 0.000 claims 2
- 230000008878 coupling Effects 0.000 claims 1
- 238000010168 coupling process Methods 0.000 claims 1
- 238000005859 coupling reaction Methods 0.000 claims 1
- 239000002243 precursor Substances 0.000 description 16
- 230000008569 process Effects 0.000 description 16
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 10
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 description 9
- 239000007789 gas Substances 0.000 description 8
- 230000008901 benefit Effects 0.000 description 7
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 7
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 7
- 238000007669 thermal treatment Methods 0.000 description 7
- 238000013461 design Methods 0.000 description 6
- 239000006096 absorbing agent Substances 0.000 description 5
- 230000009467 reduction Effects 0.000 description 5
- 238000004458 analytical method Methods 0.000 description 4
- 239000002178 crystalline material Substances 0.000 description 4
- 239000011521 glass Substances 0.000 description 4
- 238000012423 maintenance Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000004364 calculation method Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000001816 cooling Methods 0.000 description 3
- 230000005670 electromagnetic radiation Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000005516 engineering process Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000009826 distribution Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000013013 elastic material Substances 0.000 description 2
- 229910052733 gallium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 238000004088 simulation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000000126 substance Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000012546 transfer Methods 0.000 description 2
- IJGRMHOSHXDMSA-UHFFFAOYSA-N Atomic nitrogen Chemical compound N#N IJGRMHOSHXDMSA-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- GYHNNYVSQQEPJS-UHFFFAOYSA-N Gallium Chemical compound [Ga] GYHNNYVSQQEPJS-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 239000000956 alloy Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910045601 alloy Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 230000008859 change Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000004140 cleaning Methods 0.000 description 1
- HVMJUDPAXRRVQO-UHFFFAOYSA-N copper indium Chemical compound [Cu].[In] HVMJUDPAXRRVQO-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 229910001873 dinitrogen Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000002708 enhancing effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000010438 heat treatment Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000011031 large-scale manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000203 mixture Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000005693 optoelectronics Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000005086 pumping Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000007789 sealing Methods 0.000 description 1
- SPVXKVOXSXTJOY-UHFFFAOYSA-N selane Chemical compound [SeH2] SPVXKVOXSXTJOY-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 229910000058 selane Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000002470 thermal conductor Substances 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G47/00—Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
- B65G47/74—Feeding, transfer, or discharging devices of particular kinds or types
- B65G47/90—Devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
- H01L21/67155—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations
- H01L21/6719—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations characterized by the construction of the processing chambers, e.g. modular processing chambers
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
- H01L21/67739—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber
- H01L21/67742—Mechanical parts of transfer devices
Definitions
- the present invention relates generally to the manufacture of thin-film photovoltaic modules. More particularly, the present invention provides a method and tool for extracting a supersized chamber used for the manufacture of thin film photovoltaic modules. Merely by way of example, the present invention provides a tool for lifting and extracting a supersized bell jar chamber against gravity load without causing stress-related failure.
- Solar energy technology generally converts electromagnetic radiation from the sun to other useful forms of energy. These other forms of energy include thermal energy and electrical power.
- solar cells are often used. Although solar energy is environmentally clean and has been successful to a point, many limitations remain to be resolved before it becomes widely used throughout the world.
- one type of solar cell uses crystalline materials, which are derived from semiconductor material ingots. These crystalline materials can be used to fabricate optoelectronic devices that include photovoltaic and photodiode devices that convert electromagnetic radiation into electrical power.
- crystalline materials are often costly and difficult to make on a large scale. Additionally, devices made from such crystalline materials often have low energy conversion efficiencies.
- the present invention relates generally to the manufacture of thin-film photovoltaic modules. More particularly, the present invention provides a method and tool for handling a supersized processing chamber used for the manufacture of thin film photovoltaic modules. Merely by way of example, the present invention provides a tool for lifting and extracting a supersized bell jar chamber against gravity load without causing stress-related failure.
- the present invention provides an apparatus for extracting a bell jar chamber from a processing station of a thin film photovoltaic material.
- the apparatus includes a rack fixture coupled to a robot loader.
- the rack fixture is configured to support the bell jar chamber to be moved using the robot loader in a horizontal direction and in a vertical direction.
- the horizontal direction is normal to the vertical direction.
- the apparatus further includes at least two support members configured within a vicinity of an upper region of the rack fixture.
- the two support members have respective arc length regions.
- the respective arc length regions support at least respective upper inner regions of the bell jar chamber.
- the rack fixture is in a lifting configuration having the at least two support members to form an intimate contact via a soften material with the upper inner region of the bell jar chamber against all external load.
- the lifting configuration is associated with a stress indicator of the bell jar chamber to be greater than an intrinsic factor of safety.
- the present invention provides a method for extracting a bell jar chamber with a brittle mechanical characteristic.
- the method includes providing a rack fixture having at least two support members. Each support member includes an upper edge region.
- the method further includes inserting the rack fixture including the at least two support members from an open end horizontally into a bell jar chamber along an axial direction of the bell jar chamber.
- the method includes moving the rack fixture to use the at least two support members to lift the bell jar chamber against a gravitational force for extracting the bell jar chamber from a processing station.
- the present invention provides a method for handling a chamber for manufacturing a photovoltaic device.
- the method includes providing a rack fixture having at least two support members.
- the method further includes inserting the rack fixture including the at least two support members from an open end into the chamber along an axial direction. Additionally, the method includes raising the rack fixture to form a contact region between each of the two support members and an upper inner region of the chamber.
- the method further includes lifting the chamber against gravity load and disposing the chamber to a processing station.
- the processing station includes at least one or more heaters.
- the method included transferring a substrate bearing a thin-film precursor material into the chamber and sealing the open end of the chamber to create a vacuum condition.
- the method further includes filling a work gas in the chamber to maintain a predetermined gaseous environment. Moreover, the method includes performing a reactive thermal treatment to the thin-film precursor material in the gaseous environment by supplying thermal energy from the one or more heaters based on a predetermined temperature profile. Through the reactive thermal treatment the thin-film precursor material is transformed to a photovoltaic absorber.
- the invention provides the benefit of safely handling a supersized bell jar process chamber of brittle material.
- the process chamber then can be removed from a manufacturing system for maintenance and replaced by a redundant chamber for substantial saving in process time.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a tool for extracting a bell jar chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a support member with an O-ring in a Dovetail groove according to one or more embodiments of the present invention.
- FIG. 3 is a simplified diagram illustrating a method for extracting a bell jar chamber using a tool according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 4 is a simplified perspective view of a bell jar chamber lifted using the tool according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 5 is a simplified cross-sectional view of a lifted bell jar chamber under stressed deflection according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a worst case example of lifting the bell jar chamber by contact at concentrated points according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 7 is a simplified flow diagram of a method for handling a chamber for manufacturing a photovoltaic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- the present invention relates generally to the manufacture of thin-film photovoltaic modules. More particularly, the present invention provides a method and tool for handling a supersized processing chamber used for the manufacture of thin film photovoltaic modules. The invention provides a tool for lifting and extracting a supersized bell jar chamber against gravity load without causing stress-related failure.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a tool for extracting a bell jar chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the claims herein.
- the tool is schematically illustrated by an elongated rack fixture 110 , designated for handling a bell jar chamber (not shown) which for example has an essentially tubular shape with an open end and a close end.
- the elongated rack fixture 110 is shown to have a long length along x-direction which may be used to handle the bell jar chamber along its tubular length.
- two or more support members 120 can be mounted on an upper region of the elongated rack fixture 110 with a proper spatial distance to each other.
- Each support member 120 has an upper edge region configured to have a spatial spread for forming an area contact with a corresponding upper inner region of the bell jar chamber when performing an extracting or lifting process.
- the upper edge region of the support member 120 is preferred to have the spatial spread mainly across the elongated rack fixture.
- the upper edge region bears the spatial spread along an arc length in a y-z plane substantially perpendicular to x-direction.
- One advantage of the proper spatial spread and the shape of the upper edge region is to provide much reduced stress load when the support member 120 of the elongated rack fixture 110 is used for making contact with the bell jar chamber or other target super sized process system made by a brittle material. Additionally, a softened polymeric material 130 can be installed to the upper edge and aligned along the arc length for further reducing contact stress applied to the target.
- FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a support member with an O-ring in a Dovetail groove according to one or more embodiments of the present invention.
- This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the claims herein.
- a portion of the support member 120 is shown along a cross-sectional plane in parallel to the x-direction (or perpendicular to the y-z plane) of FIG. 1 .
- a groove region 125 is formed into the upper edge region 120 .
- the groove is a Dovetail groove.
- the softened polymeric material 130 installed inside the groove region is a rubber material.
- a kind of partial elastic material may be used.
- Delrin Acetal material may be used.
- an O-ring (rubber) with a proper diameter (e.g., 0.75 inches) larger than a depth of the groove region is installed so that a portion of the softened material 130 stays outside the groove region 125 .
- the shape of Dovetail groove can keep the installed O-ring material 130 fairly firm in places.
- the depth of the groove and the elasticity of the O-ring material 130 can be selected to ensure it is at least partially stayed between the upper edge region 120 and any target surface region it is against.
- a small triangular shaped elongated element 126 may be added to each side of the groove 125 along the arc length (perpendicular to the cross-section plane) to prevent all the O-ring material to be squeezed into the groove 125 .
- the groove 125 is aligned in perpendicular direction relative to the x-direction, even though the upper edge region of the support member can be an arbitrary shape depending on applications.
- FIG. 3 a simplified diagram illustrates a method for extracting a bell jar chamber using a tool according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the claims herein.
- the method includes using the tool described in FIGS. 1 and 2 for lifting and extracting a bell jar chamber 300 having an elongated tubular shape with an open end 301 .
- the tool including a rack fixture 310 with at least two support members 320 is inserted through the open end 301 into an inner spatial region of the bell jar chamber 300 .
- the rack fixture 310 is inserted substantially in parallel to an axial direction (x) of the bell jar chamber 300 .
- the rack fixture 310 has its length substantially within the whole inner spatial region as shown, although this is not required because it can be made much longer than the length of the bell jar chamber 300 .
- the rack fixture 310 is coupled to a robot loader which can be configured to move linearly along the x-direction to perform the insert operation of the rack fixture 310 including all the support members 320 mounted on an upper side of the rack fixture 310 .
- the bell jar chamber 300 is disposed with its axial direction (x) aligned horizontally, although other orientations can be used.
- each of the two support members 320 spread its upper edge to an arc length 321 across the rack fixture 310 .
- the bell jar chamber 300 is made of quartz material to take advantage of its property as a good thermal conductor and an excellent chemical inert matter to be used as a furnace chamber in an application for conducting a reactive thermal process therein.
- the bell jar chamber 300 is removably installed within a processing station of a thin-film photovoltaic device manufacture system.
- the tubular shaped bell jar chamber is wholly surrounded by one or more heating elements or cooling elements mounted on an outer shell body.
- the bell jar chamber is sealed by a cover member engaged with the open end 301 .
- the bell jar chamber 300 is used for forming a gaseous environment for chemically treating a precursor material on large glass substrates loaded therein to form a thin-film photovoltaic absorber.
- the bell jar chamber 300 may be extracted out of the process system for cleaning and other maintenance works while replaced with another cleaned chamber for conducting the manufacture process in the mean time.
- the quartz material is relatively brittle and may be breakable if the tool for extracting the bell jar chamber 300 causes an internal stress level over certain ranges defined by a minimum factor of safety.
- the support members for handling the chamber are configured to provide support the bell jar chamber against all external load without causing internal stress level to be near the ranges having high failure (breaking) probability.
- each of the two support members 320 uses its full arc length 321 to engage with an upper inner region of the bell jar chamber 300 .
- the support member 320 is substantially aligned to a (y-z) plane perpendicular to the rack fixture in x-direction (along axial direction of the bell jar chamber) so that the arc length 321 can be configured to match with the curvature of the corresponding upper inner region of the bell jar chamber. Therefore, when the support member 320 lifts the chamber (upward along y-direction), the contact area is spread to the whole arc length 321 instead of one or two isolated points, substantially reducing the stress it causes to contact area of the chamber around the upper inner region.
- the orientation of the spread arc length 321 takes advantage of the geometric symmetry to a target structure such as the tubular shape of the bell jar chamber.
- the support member 320 can be aligned in one or more alternative orientation.
- the arc length 321 is made to be larger than a certain range, depending on the size of the target structure, for achieving enough reduction in stress relief.
- the arc length 321 has a corresponding included angle 332 .
- the included angle 332 is a good indicator for a relative arc length 321 of a specific support member 320 designated for handling certain target structure.
- the included angle 332 is about 90 degrees or greater.
- the included angle 332 can be as large as 180 degrees to cover all upper half of the inner wall, but the arc length may be too long for causing inconvenience in handling of the tool itself as a whole apparatus during its application.
- the two support members 320 are disposed with a spatial gap 322 between each other.
- the tool or specifically the rack fixture 310
- the value of the spatial gap 322 can be relative flexible within a certain range but correspondingly the preferred position to dispose the rack fixture 310 inside the bell jar chamber must be restricted to a certain spatial range accordingly.
- a soften material 330 can be inserted between an upper edge of the support member 320 to cover the whole arc length 321 so that when the engagement between the support member 320 and the inner wall region occurs the soften material 330 can provide further reduction of contact stress.
- the soften material 330 in one or more embodiments, can be selected from one material consisting of a rubber material or other partial elastic material, for example, O-rings, or Delrin Acetal material, for lowering stress concentration in the vicinity of the contact area.
- a rubber material or other partial elastic material for example, O-rings, or Delrin Acetal material
- FIG. 4 is a simplified perspective view of a bell jar chamber lifted using the tool according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the claims herein.
- two support members 320 each with a lateral spread having a curved arc length are used for lifting the target tubular shaped structure 300 against its weight.
- One support member is located at a front tip of an elongated rack fixture 310 inserted deep into an interior space from an open end 301 and the other one is spaced away closer to the open end 301 .
- the support member 320 is the same as that described in earlier paragraphs and FIGS. 1-3 .
- the tubular shaped structure 300 has a substantial circular inner wall.
- the upper edge of the support member 320 is also configured to have an arc shape with substantially the same curvature as the circular inner wall and an arc length corresponding to a 90-degree included angle. Therefore, the upper edge region of each support member 320 forms an intimate contact with a corresponding inner wall region.
- the only load applied to the target tubular shaped structure is its gravity.
- tensile forces 401 , 403 , 404 , 405 , and 406 applied to the inner wall are schematically marked for several points.
- a belt region 400 of the inner wall extended beyond the arc length ( FIG.
- the force 401 on the support member at the back position is primarily pointed to y-direction with a tensile stress value of about 218 lb and x- and z-element of the force 401 is substantially small, 0.00012 lb and 0.0012 lb, respectively.
- the support member at the front tip position may apply a bigger force to the corresponding region of the target structure than one applied by the back support member for a balanced lifting of the structure.
- force 411 has a tensile stress value of about 330 lb in y-direction and two very small compressive stress values respectively in x- and z-direction.
- the tool as described in above configuration for handling an exemplary bell jar chamber is modeled using a SolidworksTM Simulation software with a simplification of linear force calculation.
- the bell jar chamber is selected to be made by quartz material having a density of 2.05 kg/m 3 .
- the length of the bell jar chamber is set to be 80 inches and the inner diameter of the tube is set to be 40 inches with a shell thickness of about 18 mm and greater.
- the model yields an estimation of a tensile strength ⁇ T for the specific quartz bell jar chamber to be about 4800 psi and a compressive strength ⁇ C to be about 72520 psi.
- ⁇ 1 and ⁇ 3 are respectively the tensile load and compressive load applied to the target structure.
- This criterion is used for brittle material with different tensile and compressive properties. Brittle materials do not have specific yield point and hence the yield strength is not recommended for defining limit stresses in this criterion.
- a design load both tensile and compressive
- a factor of safety (FOS) can be defined as:
- ⁇ 1d and ⁇ 3d are respectively the design tensile load and design compressive load applied to the target structure.
- a first principle tensile stress is estimated without considering compressive term and a finite element stress analysis is performed so that the FOS value can be mapped throughout the body of the target structure (though usually only a smaller region is selected for saving in calculation time).
- two support members 320 are respectively disposed at a position 13 inches and 73 inches from the open end 301 ; a soften material is also installed in a groove region of the upper edge region of each support member for providing reduction of contact force.
- a Delrin “O-rings” (which has a linear force deflection characteristic) is used in the model for simplifying the calculation to avoid non-linear solver.
- the simulation yields a minimum FOS value for this lifting configuration is 18, well above (safer) the minimum FOS 7.0 for quartz material.
- FIG. 5 is a simplified cross-sectional view of a lifted bell jar chamber under stressed deflection according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the claims herein.
- the tool for lifting the bell jar chamber 300 A in y-direction includes a rack fixture 310 in axial direction (into the paper plane) of the bell jar chamber and support members 320 spread laterally at least an arc length 330 in a perpendicular plane (within the paper plane).
- the tool is substantially the same as one used in FIG.
- the lifting is substantially against the gravitational force (the weight of the bell jar chamber) only.
- the contact region only is a limited part of upper inner wall of the bell jar chamber.
- the weight of the bell jar chamber can cause internal stress and effectively lead to a downward chamber deflection, turning a circular shaped bell jar 300 B before lifting into an oval shaped bell jar 300 A after in cross sectional view. Specifically in this example, the bottom part shifted the most by about 0.01 inches.
- the deflection of the bell jar 300 A also causes a higher contact force near two end points of the support member against the inner wall.
- the contact force is about 137 lb at the end point associated with the front support member and about 319 lb at the end point associated with the back support member near the open end.
- the estimation of these contact forces is based on a tool configuration mentioned above ( FIGS. 4 and 5 ) and has Delrin O-rings installed in the contact region 330 .
- the Delrin O-rings can be replaced by rubber O-rings, the gravitational force induced contact force at the end point is expected to be lower.
- FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a worst case example of lifting the bell jar chamber by two contact points according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- This diagram shows an extreme case using concentrated points of contact.
- the support member with lateral spread is simply removed and the rack fixture 310 is inserted along an axial direction of a bell jar chamber 300 from an open end 301 to use two protruded points on its upper edge directly for lifting the bell jar chamber.
- the same simulation model based on a SolidworksTM software is applied to calculate the stress distribution throughout the body of the chamber 300 .
- Regional finite element analysis yields an estimated minimum FOS value of 3.9 by Mohr-Coulomb theory. Certainly this value is smaller than FOS value 7.0 for quartz.
- the bell jar chamber 300 can be broken by lifting from an upper inner region with such two concentrated contact points along a narrowed bar along axial direction of the rack fixture 310 .
- a maximum tensile stress 603 is obtained at the inner contact point with an estimated value to be 2903 psi. It is well above the design load for this target structure and a half of the tensile strength for quartz material.
- the open end 301 of the bell jar chamber 300 has a geometric asymmetric stress effect induced by gravity.
- the two support members not only should be disposed separately with a proper distance from the center of gravity of the bell jar chamber, but also should be disposed at least a certain preferred distance away from the open end 301 so that the stress level for any local contact region would not surpass the intrinsic tensile/compressive strength of the material.
- An exemplary analysis shows that with a contact point associated with the back support member at 12 inches closer to the open end 301 , the stress at the contact point can be as large as 10000 psi due to the change of the load distribution. This is well above the tensile strength of 5800 psi and most likely will result in tube breaking
- FIG. 7 is a simplified flow diagram of a method for handling a chamber for manufacturing a photovoltaic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7 , the present method is described below.
- the above method provides a way of handling a chamber for the manufacture of a photovoltaic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- the method uses a chamber made by quartz material that is inert to the reactive chemical and good in thermal conduction for conducting the desired thermal reactive process therein for forming a photovoltaic absorber material.
- the chamber can be a tubular bell jar shape and can be also a rectangular cubic shape or other geometries.
- the chamber can have large size of about 2 meters or greater in length and 1 meter or greater in diameter with about 18 mm or greater in shell thickness.
- the method 700 starts with a start step 701 .
- the present method provides a method for safely handling a chamber (having a particularly large size) made by brittle material and disposing in a processing station of a thin-film photovoltaic device manufacture system.
- the chamber and its disposition are designed specifically for large scale reactive thermal processing of thin-film photovoltaic materials.
- the chamber is a removable module of a furnace system so that the chamber can be extracted out for maintenance and disposed with a ready-to-use replacement chamber, all handled by a tool designed according to embodiments of the present invention.
- factor of safety of the design of the tool itself and associated configuration can play a role within overall manufacture processes.
- the method begins with an implementation of a tool at a target structure, such as the one noted above, as well as others.
- the tool includes a rack fixture having at least two support members provided in step 710 .
- the rack fixture can be associated with a robot loader that is capable of moving linearly, for example, along x-direction horizontally in parallel to an axial direction associated with a tubular shaped target structure.
- the rack fixture is an elongated bar structure with a first support member being spaced from a second support member.
- the tool further includes the at least two support members on an upper region of the rack fixture.
- the rack fixture has a length selected based on the target structure, for example, a tubular shaped bell jar chamber.
- the length of the rack fixture is at least no shorter than 75% of the length of the bell jar chamber.
- one of support members is mounted on a front end of the rack fixture and at least another one is mounted at a position with a predetermined distance from the front end.
- the mounting position of the support members can be within a range of distances relative to the target structure.
- the support member can be in different orientations relative to the elongated rack fixture.
- the support member is aligned substantially in a plane perpendicular to the length direction of the rack fixture.
- the rack fixture including the at least two support members can be inserted within an inner diameter along an axial direction, as shown in step 720 .
- the tool is coupled to a robot loader.
- the robot loader is configured to move horizontally to insert the whole rack fixture into the bell jar chamber which is set on a base support with the bell jar axial direction (e.g, x-direction) in a horizontal direction.
- the method 700 includes a step 730 to lift the chamber by using the two support members against respective upper inner regions of the chamber.
- the same robot loader is used to raise the whole rack fixture upward (e.g., in a y-direction which is normal to the x-direction) such that each support member forms a contact region with the bell jar chamber.
- the support member is configured to have its upper region being spread laterally with a curved length that is configured to be substantially matched in curvature with the upper inner region of the chamber.
- the upper region of the support member can include a soften material so that the contact region becomes cushioned for reducing stress or at least unidirectional contact forces.
- a rubber material such as that for O-rings can be installed in a groove region formed in the upper region.
- This feature may be critical in stress reduction especially between a hard material (the tool) and a brittle material (the chamber).
- the contact region for each support member is within a preferred location range so that lifting the target structure (the chamber) by the two support members would be balanced against the whole external load, which is only a gravitational force for the present implementation.
- the lifting of the chamber by the configured tool can be monitored through a stress indicator so that the handling of the chamber by the tool in a specific configuration has a factor of safety substantially higher than a minimum factor of safety associated with intrinsic material property. Therefore, once the lifting step is completed, the chamber is under a stress level that is safe and substantially small in risk of breakage or stress-related failure.
- the method performs a next step 740 to dispose the lifted chamber into a processing station of a manufacture system for treating thin-film photovoltaic materials.
- the processing station is an apparatus for holding the chamber and providing controlled thermal energy to the chamber so that a reactive thermal treatment can be performed to one or more thin-film materials on substrates loaded inside the chamber.
- This step can be further carried out by using the robot loader to move the bell jar chamber lifted by the two support members of the rack fixture.
- the bell jar chamber is moved into the processing station which is configured to be surrounded by one or more heaters mounted in a shell structure.
- the process station also can be equipped with one or more cooling devices for maintaining a balanced thermal energy control.
- the combined heaters and cooling devices are designed to supply thermal energy to the bell jar chamber and additionally to control chamber temperature following a predetermined temperature profile designated for treating thin-film photovoltaic materials on a plurality of substrates. After disposing the bell jar chamber in the processing station, the tool can be retracted out of the chamber, again controlled by the robot loader in both vertical and horizontal directions.
- the method 700 additionally includes step 750 to transfer one or more substrates bearing one or more thin-film precursor materials into the bell jar chamber through the open end.
- the one or more thin-film precursor materials include copper indium (or gallium) mixture (or alloy) materials pre-deposited on glass substrates. These precursor materials are examples of many material elements used for forming thin-film photovoltaic solar cells.
- the method 700 further applies step 760 to seal the chamber by using a cover member engaged with the open end of the bell jar chamber.
- the step 760 further includes pumping down the chamber to achieve a desired vacuum condition.
- the cover member includes a vacuumed edge ring to ensure tightly close of the open end.
- the pump outlet is built on the cover member and the vacuum is monitored by one or more pressure sensors.
- the method 700 further includes filling the chamber with a work gas up to a desired pressure level in step 770 .
- the work gas is designed for react with the precursor material for forming a desired end material product.
- the work gas includes hydrogen selenide gas mixed with pure nitrogen gas for treating a copper-indium-gallium based precursor thin-film material.
- the gas filling inlet can be built in the cover member mentioned before.
- the method 700 can start step 780 to perform a reactive thermal treatment of the precursor material loaded in the chamber using thermal energy supplied by the one or more heaters following a predetermined temperature profile.
- the process includes temperature ramping stages and temperature dwelling stages so that the precursor material on the substrates can react with the work gas in the gaseous environment formed inside the heated bell jar chamber.
- a dwelling stage is set to be at 425° C. for 10-80 minutes.
- the method 700 may end with step 799 after the precursor material is transformed into a photovoltaic absorber material by the reactive thermal treatment inside the bell jar chamber.
- the above sequence of processes or steps provides a handling method for a chamber used for processing a thin-film photovoltaic material according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- the method uses a combination of steps including providing a specific tool for safely handling a target structure which is a shaped chamber made by a relative brittle material, disposing the shaped chamber in process system, transferring precursor materials in the shaped chamber, and performing reactive thermal treatment of the precursor materials for the manufacture of the thin-film solar cells.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
- Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
- Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
- Power Engineering (AREA)
- Robotics (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Container, Conveyance, Adherence, Positioning, Of Wafer (AREA)
- Crystals, And After-Treatments Of Crystals (AREA)
Abstract
An apparatus for extracting a bell jar chamber from a processing station of a thin film photovoltaic material is provided. The apparatus includes a rack fixture coupled to a robot loader. The rack fixture is configured to support the bell jar chamber to be moved using the robot loader in a horizontal direction and in a vertical direction. The apparatus further includes at least two support members configured within a vicinity of an upper region of the rack fixture.
Description
- This application is a continuation of and claims benefit to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/909,563, filed Oct. 21, 2010, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/254,194, filed Oct. 22, 2009, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.
- The present invention relates generally to the manufacture of thin-film photovoltaic modules. More particularly, the present invention provides a method and tool for extracting a supersized chamber used for the manufacture of thin film photovoltaic modules. Merely by way of example, the present invention provides a tool for lifting and extracting a supersized bell jar chamber against gravity load without causing stress-related failure.
- Solar energy technology generally converts electromagnetic radiation from the sun to other useful forms of energy. These other forms of energy include thermal energy and electrical power. For electrical power applications, solar cells are often used. Although solar energy is environmentally clean and has been successful to a point, many limitations remain to be resolved before it becomes widely used throughout the world. As an example, one type of solar cell uses crystalline materials, which are derived from semiconductor material ingots. These crystalline materials can be used to fabricate optoelectronic devices that include photovoltaic and photodiode devices that convert electromagnetic radiation into electrical power. However, crystalline materials are often costly and difficult to make on a large scale. Additionally, devices made from such crystalline materials often have low energy conversion efficiencies. Other types of solar cells use “thin film” technology to form a thin film of photosensitive material to be used to convert electromagnetic radiation into electrical power. One advantage of the use of thin film technology in making solar cells is to form modules direct on large sized glass substrates. That requires, at the same time, supersized processing system for treating the thin film cells associated with the large sized glass substrates. Additionally, the processing system is subjected to routing maintenance for maintain thin-film process reliability for enhancing solar cell efficiency depending on applications. Often, conventional tools for handing the supersized processing system are either not available or unfit for newly developed system.
- From the above, it is seen that improved apparatus and method for handling new supersized processing system for the manufacture of thin-film solar modules are desired.
- The present invention relates generally to the manufacture of thin-film photovoltaic modules. More particularly, the present invention provides a method and tool for handling a supersized processing chamber used for the manufacture of thin film photovoltaic modules. Merely by way of example, the present invention provides a tool for lifting and extracting a supersized bell jar chamber against gravity load without causing stress-related failure.
- In a specific embodiment, the present invention provides an apparatus for extracting a bell jar chamber from a processing station of a thin film photovoltaic material. The apparatus includes a rack fixture coupled to a robot loader. The rack fixture is configured to support the bell jar chamber to be moved using the robot loader in a horizontal direction and in a vertical direction. The horizontal direction is normal to the vertical direction. The apparatus further includes at least two support members configured within a vicinity of an upper region of the rack fixture. The two support members have respective arc length regions. The respective arc length regions support at least respective upper inner regions of the bell jar chamber. The rack fixture is in a lifting configuration having the at least two support members to form an intimate contact via a soften material with the upper inner region of the bell jar chamber against all external load. The lifting configuration is associated with a stress indicator of the bell jar chamber to be greater than an intrinsic factor of safety.
- In an alternative embodiment, the present invention provides a method for extracting a bell jar chamber with a brittle mechanical characteristic. The method includes providing a rack fixture having at least two support members. Each support member includes an upper edge region. The method further includes inserting the rack fixture including the at least two support members from an open end horizontally into a bell jar chamber along an axial direction of the bell jar chamber. Furthermore, the method includes moving the rack fixture to use the at least two support members to lift the bell jar chamber against a gravitational force for extracting the bell jar chamber from a processing station.
- In yet another alternative embodiment, the present invention provides a method for handling a chamber for manufacturing a photovoltaic device. The method includes providing a rack fixture having at least two support members. The method further includes inserting the rack fixture including the at least two support members from an open end into the chamber along an axial direction. Additionally, the method includes raising the rack fixture to form a contact region between each of the two support members and an upper inner region of the chamber. The method further includes lifting the chamber against gravity load and disposing the chamber to a processing station. The processing station includes at least one or more heaters. Furthermore, the method included transferring a substrate bearing a thin-film precursor material into the chamber and sealing the open end of the chamber to create a vacuum condition. The method further includes filling a work gas in the chamber to maintain a predetermined gaseous environment. Moreover, the method includes performing a reactive thermal treatment to the thin-film precursor material in the gaseous environment by supplying thermal energy from the one or more heaters based on a predetermined temperature profile. Through the reactive thermal treatment the thin-film precursor material is transformed to a photovoltaic absorber.
- The invention provides the benefit of safely handling a supersized bell jar process chamber of brittle material. The process chamber then can be removed from a manufacturing system for maintenance and replaced by a redundant chamber for substantial saving in process time.
-
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a tool for extracting a bell jar chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a support member with an O-ring in a Dovetail groove according to one or more embodiments of the present invention. -
FIG. 3 is a simplified diagram illustrating a method for extracting a bell jar chamber using a tool according to an embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 4 is a simplified perspective view of a bell jar chamber lifted using the tool according to an embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 5 is a simplified cross-sectional view of a lifted bell jar chamber under stressed deflection according to an embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a worst case example of lifting the bell jar chamber by contact at concentrated points according to an embodiment of the present invention. -
FIG. 7 is a simplified flow diagram of a method for handling a chamber for manufacturing a photovoltaic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. - The present invention relates generally to the manufacture of thin-film photovoltaic modules. More particularly, the present invention provides a method and tool for handling a supersized processing chamber used for the manufacture of thin film photovoltaic modules. The invention provides a tool for lifting and extracting a supersized bell jar chamber against gravity load without causing stress-related failure.
-
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a tool for extracting a bell jar chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention. This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the claims herein. One of ordinary skilled should recognize many variations, alternatives, and modifications in geometric shape, elemental configuration, and material selection. As shown, the tool is schematically illustrated by anelongated rack fixture 110, designated for handling a bell jar chamber (not shown) which for example has an essentially tubular shape with an open end and a close end. Theelongated rack fixture 110 is shown to have a long length along x-direction which may be used to handle the bell jar chamber along its tubular length. Further, two ormore support members 120 can be mounted on an upper region of theelongated rack fixture 110 with a proper spatial distance to each other. Eachsupport member 120 has an upper edge region configured to have a spatial spread for forming an area contact with a corresponding upper inner region of the bell jar chamber when performing an extracting or lifting process. In a specific embodiment, to adapt an axial symmetry of the tubular shaped chamber, the upper edge region of thesupport member 120 is preferred to have the spatial spread mainly across the elongated rack fixture. In an example, the upper edge region bears the spatial spread along an arc length in a y-z plane substantially perpendicular to x-direction. One advantage of the proper spatial spread and the shape of the upper edge region is to provide much reduced stress load when thesupport member 120 of theelongated rack fixture 110 is used for making contact with the bell jar chamber or other target super sized process system made by a brittle material. Additionally, a softenedpolymeric material 130 can be installed to the upper edge and aligned along the arc length for further reducing contact stress applied to the target. -
FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a support member with an O-ring in a Dovetail groove according to one or more embodiments of the present invention. This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the claims herein. One of ordinary skilled should recognize many variations, alternatives, and modifications. A portion of thesupport member 120 is shown along a cross-sectional plane in parallel to the x-direction (or perpendicular to the y-z plane) ofFIG. 1 . As shown, agroove region 125 is formed into theupper edge region 120. In particular, the groove is a Dovetail groove. In the example, the softenedpolymeric material 130 installed inside the groove region is a rubber material. In another example, a kind of partial elastic material may be used. For example, Delrin Acetal material may be used. In a specific example, an O-ring (rubber) with a proper diameter (e.g., 0.75 inches) larger than a depth of the groove region is installed so that a portion of the softenedmaterial 130 stays outside thegroove region 125. The shape of Dovetail groove can keep the installed O-ring material 130 fairly firm in places. The depth of the groove and the elasticity of the O-ring material 130 can be selected to ensure it is at least partially stayed between theupper edge region 120 and any target surface region it is against. In certain example, a small triangular shapedelongated element 126 may be added to each side of thegroove 125 along the arc length (perpendicular to the cross-section plane) to prevent all the O-ring material to be squeezed into thegroove 125. In a specific embodiment, thegroove 125 is aligned in perpendicular direction relative to the x-direction, even though the upper edge region of the support member can be an arbitrary shape depending on applications. - Referring to
FIG. 3 , a simplified diagram illustrates a method for extracting a bell jar chamber using a tool according to an embodiment of the present invention. This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the claims herein. One of ordinary skilled should recognize many variations, alternatives, and modifications. As shown, the method includes using the tool described inFIGS. 1 and 2 for lifting and extracting abell jar chamber 300 having an elongated tubular shape with anopen end 301. The tool including arack fixture 310 with at least twosupport members 320 is inserted through theopen end 301 into an inner spatial region of thebell jar chamber 300. In particular, taking advantage of the symmetric geometric shape, therack fixture 310 is inserted substantially in parallel to an axial direction (x) of thebell jar chamber 300. Therack fixture 310 has its length substantially within the whole inner spatial region as shown, although this is not required because it can be made much longer than the length of thebell jar chamber 300. Not shown in theFIG. 3 , therack fixture 310 is coupled to a robot loader which can be configured to move linearly along the x-direction to perform the insert operation of therack fixture 310 including all thesupport members 320 mounted on an upper side of therack fixture 310. In an embodiment thebell jar chamber 300 is disposed with its axial direction (x) aligned horizontally, although other orientations can be used. - In a specific embodiment, each of the two
support members 320 spread its upper edge to anarc length 321 across therack fixture 310. In a specific embodiment, thebell jar chamber 300 is made of quartz material to take advantage of its property as a good thermal conductor and an excellent chemical inert matter to be used as a furnace chamber in an application for conducting a reactive thermal process therein. In an implementation, thebell jar chamber 300 is removably installed within a processing station of a thin-film photovoltaic device manufacture system. For example, the tubular shaped bell jar chamber is wholly surrounded by one or more heating elements or cooling elements mounted on an outer shell body. The bell jar chamber is sealed by a cover member engaged with theopen end 301. In an example, thebell jar chamber 300 is used for forming a gaseous environment for chemically treating a precursor material on large glass substrates loaded therein to form a thin-film photovoltaic absorber. In order to maintain a large scale manufacture processing within a controlled manner, thebell jar chamber 300, after certain process runs, may be extracted out of the process system for cleaning and other maintenance works while replaced with another cleaned chamber for conducting the manufacture process in the mean time. The quartz material is relatively brittle and may be breakable if the tool for extracting thebell jar chamber 300 causes an internal stress level over certain ranges defined by a minimum factor of safety. In a specific embodiment, the support members for handling the chamber are configured to provide support the bell jar chamber against all external load without causing internal stress level to be near the ranges having high failure (breaking) probability. - In the example shown in
FIG. 3 , each of the twosupport members 320 uses itsfull arc length 321 to engage with an upper inner region of thebell jar chamber 300. In particular, thesupport member 320 is substantially aligned to a (y-z) plane perpendicular to the rack fixture in x-direction (along axial direction of the bell jar chamber) so that thearc length 321 can be configured to match with the curvature of the corresponding upper inner region of the bell jar chamber. Therefore, when thesupport member 320 lifts the chamber (upward along y-direction), the contact area is spread to thewhole arc length 321 instead of one or two isolated points, substantially reducing the stress it causes to contact area of the chamber around the upper inner region. The orientation of thespread arc length 321 takes advantage of the geometric symmetry to a target structure such as the tubular shape of the bell jar chamber. Of course, for certain variation of the target structure, thesupport member 320 can be aligned in one or more alternative orientation. In a specific embodiment, thearc length 321 is made to be larger than a certain range, depending on the size of the target structure, for achieving enough reduction in stress relief. As shown inFIG. 3 , thearc length 321 has a corresponding includedangle 332. The includedangle 332 is a good indicator for arelative arc length 321 of aspecific support member 320 designated for handling certain target structure. In the example, shown inFIG. 3 , the includedangle 332 is about 90 degrees or greater. Theoretically, the includedangle 332 can be as large as 180 degrees to cover all upper half of the inner wall, but the arc length may be too long for causing inconvenience in handling of the tool itself as a whole apparatus during its application. - Additionally, the two
support members 320 are disposed with aspatial gap 322 between each other. As the tool (or specifically the rack fixture 310) is inserted into thebell jar chamber 300, it should be reached to a preferred position so that when the rack fixture moves up to let thesupport members 320 to lift thechamber 300 the twosupport members 320 are respectively located substantially in a vicinity of a balanced position relative to a center ofgravity 303 of thebell jar chamber 300. In an embodiment, the value of thespatial gap 322 can be relative flexible within a certain range but correspondingly the preferred position to dispose therack fixture 310 inside the bell jar chamber must be restricted to a certain spatial range accordingly. - Referring to
FIG. 3 , a softenmaterial 330 can be inserted between an upper edge of thesupport member 320 to cover thewhole arc length 321 so that when the engagement between thesupport member 320 and the inner wall region occurs the softenmaterial 330 can provide further reduction of contact stress. The softenmaterial 330, in one or more embodiments, can be selected from one material consisting of a rubber material or other partial elastic material, for example, O-rings, or Delrin Acetal material, for lowering stress concentration in the vicinity of the contact area. As mentioned in an example shown inFIG. 2 , 0.75 inches diameter O-ring cushions is used as the stress reduction soften material and installed in a Dovetail groove formed along the whole arc length of the upper edge of the support member. -
FIG. 4 is a simplified perspective view of a bell jar chamber lifted using the tool according to an embodiment of the present invention. This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the claims herein. One of ordinary skilled should recognize many variations, alternatives, and modifications. As shown, twosupport members 320 each with a lateral spread having a curved arc length are used for lifting the target tubular shapedstructure 300 against its weight. One support member is located at a front tip of anelongated rack fixture 310 inserted deep into an interior space from anopen end 301 and the other one is spaced away closer to theopen end 301. In an embodiment, thesupport member 320 is the same as that described in earlier paragraphs andFIGS. 1-3 . The tubular shapedstructure 300 has a substantial circular inner wall. The upper edge of thesupport member 320 is also configured to have an arc shape with substantially the same curvature as the circular inner wall and an arc length corresponding to a 90-degree included angle. Therefore, the upper edge region of eachsupport member 320 forms an intimate contact with a corresponding inner wall region. As shown, the only load applied to the target tubular shaped structure is its gravity. In the contact region along the upper edge with a spread arc length,tensile forces belt region 400 of the inner wall extended beyond the arc length (FIG. 4 ) is selected to be a target region for finite element stress analysis. For example, theforce 401 on the support member at the back position is primarily pointed to y-direction with a tensile stress value of about 218 lb and x- and z-element of theforce 401 is substantially small, 0.00012 lb and 0.0012 lb, respectively. Because the chamber has a closed front end and an opened back end (as shown inFIG. 4 ), the support member at the front tip position may apply a bigger force to the corresponding region of the target structure than one applied by the back support member for a balanced lifting of the structure. For example,force 411 has a tensile stress value of about 330 lb in y-direction and two very small compressive stress values respectively in x- and z-direction. - The tool as described in above configuration for handling an exemplary bell jar chamber is modeled using a Solidworks™ Simulation software with a simplification of linear force calculation. In this model, the bell jar chamber is selected to be made by quartz material having a density of 2.05 kg/m3. The length of the bell jar chamber is set to be 80 inches and the inner diameter of the tube is set to be 40 inches with a shell thickness of about 18 mm and greater. Based on the material properties as proposed, the model yields an estimation of a tensile strength σT for the specific quartz bell jar chamber to be about 4800 psi and a compressive strength σC to be about 72520 psi. These estimations are comparable with values from Heraeus Brochure: tensile strength σT 40 N/mm2 and compressive strength σC 500 N/mm2, respectively. In order to determine whether the tool is able to handle the target structure without causing any stress related material or structural failure, an internal friction theory, also known as Mohr-Coulomb theory, is applied. Using Mohr-Coulomb theory, a stress-related material failure criterion is defined as:
-
σ1/σT+σ3/σC<1. (1) - Where σ1 and σ3 are respectively the tensile load and compressive load applied to the target structure. This criterion is used for brittle material with different tensile and compressive properties. Brittle materials do not have specific yield point and hence the yield strength is not recommended for defining limit stresses in this criterion. For designing a reliable tool for handling target structure, a design load (both tensile and compressive) for the target structure is given to provide a safe margin of stress level away from the material limit values. A factor of safety (FOS) can be defined as:
-
FOS=(σ1d/σT+σ3d/σC)−1 (2) - Here σ1d and σ3d are respectively the design tensile load and design compressive load applied to the target structure. For the bell jar chamber in quartz material a design load is given as 830 psi. This yields a FOS=7.0. In current model, a first principle tensile stress is estimated without considering compressive term and a finite element stress analysis is performed so that the FOS value can be mapped throughout the body of the target structure (though usually only a smaller region is selected for saving in calculation time). In a specific example, two
support members 320 are respectively disposed at a position 13 inches and 73 inches from theopen end 301; a soften material is also installed in a groove region of the upper edge region of each support member for providing reduction of contact force. A Delrin “O-rings” (which has a linear force deflection characteristic) is used in the model for simplifying the calculation to avoid non-linear solver. The simulation yields a minimum FOS value for this lifting configuration is 18, well above (safer) the minimum FOS 7.0 for quartz material. -
FIG. 5 is a simplified cross-sectional view of a lifted bell jar chamber under stressed deflection according to an embodiment of the present invention. This diagram is merely an example, which should not unduly limit the claims herein. One of ordinary skilled should recognize many variations, alternatives, and modifications. As shown is a view of a liftedbell jar chamber 300A from the open end direction. In a specific embodiment, the tool for lifting thebell jar chamber 300A in y-direction (up as indicated by the arrow) includes arack fixture 310 in axial direction (into the paper plane) of the bell jar chamber andsupport members 320 spread laterally at least anarc length 330 in a perpendicular plane (within the paper plane). The tool is substantially the same as one used inFIG. 4 and two support members are assumed to lift at respectively 13 inches and 73 inches distances from the open end. The lifting is substantially against the gravitational force (the weight of the bell jar chamber) only. Depending on the extent of the lateral spread of the support member, the contact region only is a limited part of upper inner wall of the bell jar chamber. The weight of the bell jar chamber can cause internal stress and effectively lead to a downward chamber deflection, turning a circular shapedbell jar 300B before lifting into an oval shapedbell jar 300A after in cross sectional view. Specifically in this example, the bottom part shifted the most by about 0.01 inches. The deflection of thebell jar 300A also causes a higher contact force near two end points of the support member against the inner wall. For example, the contact force is about 137 lb at the end point associated with the front support member and about 319 lb at the end point associated with the back support member near the open end. The estimation of these contact forces is based on a tool configuration mentioned above (FIGS. 4 and 5 ) and has Delrin O-rings installed in thecontact region 330. In an implementation, the Delrin O-rings can be replaced by rubber O-rings, the gravitational force induced contact force at the end point is expected to be lower. -
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a worst case example of lifting the bell jar chamber by two contact points according to an embodiment of the present invention. This diagram shows an extreme case using concentrated points of contact. As shown, the support member with lateral spread is simply removed and therack fixture 310 is inserted along an axial direction of abell jar chamber 300 from anopen end 301 to use two protruded points on its upper edge directly for lifting the bell jar chamber. In this configuration, the same simulation model based on a Solidworks™ software is applied to calculate the stress distribution throughout the body of thechamber 300. Regional finite element analysis yields an estimated minimum FOS value of 3.9 by Mohr-Coulomb theory. Certainly this value is smaller than FOS value 7.0 for quartz. In other words, this indicates that the simplified tool as shown inFIG. 6 may not be a safe tool for lifting the target bell jar chamber. Thebell jar chamber 300 can be broken by lifting from an upper inner region with such two concentrated contact points along a narrowed bar along axial direction of therack fixture 310. Specifically, a maximumtensile stress 603 is obtained at the inner contact point with an estimated value to be 2903 psi. It is well above the design load for this target structure and a half of the tensile strength for quartz material. - Also note that, in an alternative example, the
open end 301 of thebell jar chamber 300 has a geometric asymmetric stress effect induced by gravity. The two support members not only should be disposed separately with a proper distance from the center of gravity of the bell jar chamber, but also should be disposed at least a certain preferred distance away from theopen end 301 so that the stress level for any local contact region would not surpass the intrinsic tensile/compressive strength of the material. An exemplary analysis shows that with a contact point associated with the back support member at 12 inches closer to theopen end 301, the stress at the contact point can be as large as 10000 psi due to the change of the load distribution. This is well above the tensile strength of 5800 psi and most likely will result in tube breaking -
FIG. 7 is a simplified flow diagram of a method for handling a chamber for manufacturing a photovoltaic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 7 , the present method is described below. -
- 1. Start;
- 2. Provide a rack fixture having at least two support members;
- 3. Insert the rack fixture from an open end into the chamber along an axial direction;
- 4. Lift the chamber by using the two support members against respective upper inner regions of the chamber;
- 5. Dispose the chamber to a processing station;
- 6. Transfer a precursor material into the chamber;
- 7. Seal the open end of the chamber;
- 8. Filling a work gas in chamber;
- 9. Perform a reactive thermal treatment to the precursor material to form a photovoltaic absorber; and
- 10. Stop.
- As shown, the above method provides a way of handling a chamber for the manufacture of a photovoltaic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In a preferred embodiment, the method uses a chamber made by quartz material that is inert to the reactive chemical and good in thermal conduction for conducting the desired thermal reactive process therein for forming a photovoltaic absorber material. The chamber can be a tubular bell jar shape and can be also a rectangular cubic shape or other geometries. The chamber can have large size of about 2 meters or greater in length and 1 meter or greater in diameter with about 18 mm or greater in shell thickness.
- As shown in
FIG. 7 , themethod 700 starts with astart step 701. The present method provides a method for safely handling a chamber (having a particularly large size) made by brittle material and disposing in a processing station of a thin-film photovoltaic device manufacture system. The chamber and its disposition are designed specifically for large scale reactive thermal processing of thin-film photovoltaic materials. According to an embodiment, the chamber is a removable module of a furnace system so that the chamber can be extracted out for maintenance and disposed with a ready-to-use replacement chamber, all handled by a tool designed according to embodiments of the present invention. In regards to the chamber extraction and re-disposition using the tool, factor of safety of the design of the tool itself and associated configuration can play a role within overall manufacture processes. Here, the method begins with an implementation of a tool at a target structure, such as the one noted above, as well as others. - The tool includes a rack fixture having at least two support members provided in
step 710. The rack fixture can be associated with a robot loader that is capable of moving linearly, for example, along x-direction horizontally in parallel to an axial direction associated with a tubular shaped target structure. In an embodiment, the rack fixture is an elongated bar structure with a first support member being spaced from a second support member. - The tool further includes the at least two support members on an upper region of the rack fixture. In an embodiment, the rack fixture has a length selected based on the target structure, for example, a tubular shaped bell jar chamber. The length of the rack fixture is at least no shorter than 75% of the length of the bell jar chamber. In another embodiment, one of support members is mounted on a front end of the rack fixture and at least another one is mounted at a position with a predetermined distance from the front end. Depending on target structure geometric shape and material property, the mounting position of the support members can be within a range of distances relative to the target structure. The support member can be in different orientations relative to the elongated rack fixture. In a specific embodiment, the support member is aligned substantially in a plane perpendicular to the length direction of the rack fixture.
- Through an open end of the target bell jar chamber, the rack fixture including the at least two support members can be inserted within an inner diameter along an axial direction, as shown in
step 720. In an embodiment, the tool is coupled to a robot loader. The robot loader is configured to move horizontally to insert the whole rack fixture into the bell jar chamber which is set on a base support with the bell jar axial direction (e.g, x-direction) in a horizontal direction. - Further, the
method 700 includes astep 730 to lift the chamber by using the two support members against respective upper inner regions of the chamber. In a specific embodiment, the same robot loader is used to raise the whole rack fixture upward (e.g., in a y-direction which is normal to the x-direction) such that each support member forms a contact region with the bell jar chamber. In another specific embodiment, the support member is configured to have its upper region being spread laterally with a curved length that is configured to be substantially matched in curvature with the upper inner region of the chamber. Additionally, the upper region of the support member can include a soften material so that the contact region becomes cushioned for reducing stress or at least unidirectional contact forces. For example, a rubber material such as that for O-rings can be installed in a groove region formed in the upper region. This feature may be critical in stress reduction especially between a hard material (the tool) and a brittle material (the chamber). In yet another specific embodiment, the contact region for each support member is within a preferred location range so that lifting the target structure (the chamber) by the two support members would be balanced against the whole external load, which is only a gravitational force for the present implementation. Overall, the lifting of the chamber by the configured tool can be monitored through a stress indicator so that the handling of the chamber by the tool in a specific configuration has a factor of safety substantially higher than a minimum factor of safety associated with intrinsic material property. Therefore, once the lifting step is completed, the chamber is under a stress level that is safe and substantially small in risk of breakage or stress-related failure. - Once the chamber is lifted, the method performs a
next step 740 to dispose the lifted chamber into a processing station of a manufacture system for treating thin-film photovoltaic materials. In particular, the processing station is an apparatus for holding the chamber and providing controlled thermal energy to the chamber so that a reactive thermal treatment can be performed to one or more thin-film materials on substrates loaded inside the chamber. This step can be further carried out by using the robot loader to move the bell jar chamber lifted by the two support members of the rack fixture. The bell jar chamber is moved into the processing station which is configured to be surrounded by one or more heaters mounted in a shell structure. The process station also can be equipped with one or more cooling devices for maintaining a balanced thermal energy control. The combined heaters and cooling devices are designed to supply thermal energy to the bell jar chamber and additionally to control chamber temperature following a predetermined temperature profile designated for treating thin-film photovoltaic materials on a plurality of substrates. After disposing the bell jar chamber in the processing station, the tool can be retracted out of the chamber, again controlled by the robot loader in both vertical and horizontal directions. - The
method 700 additionally includesstep 750 to transfer one or more substrates bearing one or more thin-film precursor materials into the bell jar chamber through the open end. In a specific embodiment, the one or more thin-film precursor materials include copper indium (or gallium) mixture (or alloy) materials pre-deposited on glass substrates. These precursor materials are examples of many material elements used for forming thin-film photovoltaic solar cells. - Referring to
FIG. 7 , themethod 700 further appliesstep 760 to seal the chamber by using a cover member engaged with the open end of the bell jar chamber. Thestep 760 further includes pumping down the chamber to achieve a desired vacuum condition. The cover member includes a vacuumed edge ring to ensure tightly close of the open end. In an embodiment, the pump outlet is built on the cover member and the vacuum is monitored by one or more pressure sensors. - The
method 700 further includes filling the chamber with a work gas up to a desired pressure level instep 770. The work gas is designed for react with the precursor material for forming a desired end material product. For example, the work gas includes hydrogen selenide gas mixed with pure nitrogen gas for treating a copper-indium-gallium based precursor thin-film material. The gas filling inlet can be built in the cover member mentioned before. - Furthermore, the
method 700 can start step 780 to perform a reactive thermal treatment of the precursor material loaded in the chamber using thermal energy supplied by the one or more heaters following a predetermined temperature profile. The process includes temperature ramping stages and temperature dwelling stages so that the precursor material on the substrates can react with the work gas in the gaseous environment formed inside the heated bell jar chamber. For example, a dwelling stage is set to be at 425° C. for 10-80 minutes. Themethod 700 may end withstep 799 after the precursor material is transformed into a photovoltaic absorber material by the reactive thermal treatment inside the bell jar chamber. - The above sequence of processes or steps provides a handling method for a chamber used for processing a thin-film photovoltaic material according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the method uses a combination of steps including providing a specific tool for safely handling a target structure which is a shaped chamber made by a relative brittle material, disposing the shaped chamber in process system, transferring precursor materials in the shaped chamber, and performing reactive thermal treatment of the precursor materials for the manufacture of the thin-film solar cells.
- Although the above has been illustrated according to specific embodiments, there can be other modifications, alternatives, and variations. It is understood that the examples and embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposes only and that various modifications or changes in light thereof will be suggested to persons skilled in the art and are to be included within the spirit and purview of this application and scope of the appended claims.
Claims (20)
1. An apparatus for extracting a bell jar chamber from a processing station, the apparatus comprising:
a rack fixture; and
at least two support members positioned proximate an outer surface of the rack fixture, wherein the at least two support members are at least partially characterized along an outer edge by an arcuate shape configured to support the bell jar chamber along an upper inner region.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising polymeric material overlying each of the at least two support members.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the polymeric material is selected from a rubber material, an O-ring, or a Delrin Acetal material, wherein the polymeric material is configured to cushion the arc length regions of the support members; wherein the bell jar chamber comprises a quartz material, the bell jar chamber having an axial length of about 200 cm and greater from an open end to a closed end, a diameter of 100 cm and greater, and a shell thickness of about 1.8 cm and greater, the bell jar chamber being characterized by an intrinsic factor of safety of about 7.0 based on Mohr-Coulomb failure theory applied for the quartz material.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the at least two support members are positioned along the rack fixture at a distance from one another of less than or about 140 cm.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each support member defines a trench within the outer edge characterized by an arcuate shape.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the trench is characterized by a dovetail shape.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising an insert positioned between an inner edge of the trench and a gasket at least partially located within the trench.
8. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein a first end and a second end of the outer edge characterized by the arcuate shape comprises a corresponding included angle of about 90 degrees and greater.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least two support members comprise a first support member spaced from a second support member to balance the bell jar chamber about a center of gravity of the bell jar chamber.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the rack fixture is configured to support the bell jar chamber to maintain a stress level of the bell jar chamber to below a breakage stress of the bell jar chamber by a factor of safety, the factor of safety being defined as an inverse sum of a first ratio of an applied tensile stress over a tensile strength of chamber material and a second ratio of an applied compressive stress over a compressive strength of chamber material.
11. A method for extracting a bell jar chamber, the method comprising:
providing a rack fixture having at least two support members, each support member comprising an upper edge region;
inserting the rack fixture including the at least two support members from an open end horizontally into a bell jar chamber along an axial direction of the bell jar chamber;
interfacing the at least two support members with an inner region of the bell jar chamber; and
moving the bell jar chamber.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein providing the rack fixture comprises coupling the rack fixture to a robot loader configured to move horizontally and vertically.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein providing the rack fixture having at least two support members comprises disposing a first support member spaced from a second support member by a predetermined distance related at least to a center of gravity of the bell jar chamber.
14. The method of claim 11 wherein each of the at least two support members comprises a groove region formed from a first end to a second end along the upper edge region, the groove region being configured to seat a material for reducing stress level of the bell jar chamber around a contact region between the upper edge region of the two support members and an upper inner region of the bell jar chamber.
15. The method of claim 11 wherein inserting the rack fixture comprises positioning the two support members to respective positions that are substantially balanced relative to a center of gravity of the bell jar chamber and at least a predetermined distance away from the open end of the bell jar chamber.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein the predetermined distance comprises about 15% of an axial length of the bell jar chamber.
17. A method for handling a chamber for manufacturing a photovoltaic device, the method comprising:
inserting a rack fixture including at least two support members from an open end into the chamber along an axial direction;
raising the rack fixture to form a contact region between each of the two support members and an upper inner region of the chamber;
lifting the chamber; and
disposing the chamber to a processing station.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the chamber comprises a quartz bell jar having a tubular shape with an open end and a closed end.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein each of the two support members is configured to have the contact region spread laterally with an arc length following the tubular shape of an inner region of the bell jar, the arc length corresponding to an included angle of 90 degrees and greater.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein the inner region of the bell jar is subjected to a contact force substantially smaller than an intrinsic stress strength of the quartz bell jar.
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US14/462,866 US20140356105A1 (en) | 2009-10-22 | 2014-08-19 | Bell jar extraction tool method and apparatus for thin film photovoltaic materials |
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US25419409P | 2009-10-22 | 2009-10-22 | |
US12/909,563 US8809096B1 (en) | 2009-10-22 | 2010-10-21 | Bell jar extraction tool method and apparatus for thin film photovoltaic materials |
US14/462,866 US20140356105A1 (en) | 2009-10-22 | 2014-08-19 | Bell jar extraction tool method and apparatus for thin film photovoltaic materials |
Related Parent Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US12/909,563 Continuation US8809096B1 (en) | 2009-10-22 | 2010-10-21 | Bell jar extraction tool method and apparatus for thin film photovoltaic materials |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20140356105A1 true US20140356105A1 (en) | 2014-12-04 |
Family
ID=51301631
Family Applications (2)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US12/909,563 Expired - Fee Related US8809096B1 (en) | 2009-10-22 | 2010-10-21 | Bell jar extraction tool method and apparatus for thin film photovoltaic materials |
US14/462,866 Abandoned US20140356105A1 (en) | 2009-10-22 | 2014-08-19 | Bell jar extraction tool method and apparatus for thin film photovoltaic materials |
Family Applications Before (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US12/909,563 Expired - Fee Related US8809096B1 (en) | 2009-10-22 | 2010-10-21 | Bell jar extraction tool method and apparatus for thin film photovoltaic materials |
Country Status (1)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (2) | US8809096B1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US8809096B1 (en) * | 2009-10-22 | 2014-08-19 | Stion Corporation | Bell jar extraction tool method and apparatus for thin film photovoltaic materials |
Citations (6)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3460816A (en) * | 1962-01-02 | 1969-08-12 | Gen Electric | Fluxless aluminum brazing furnace |
US5167716A (en) * | 1990-09-28 | 1992-12-01 | Gasonics, Inc. | Method and apparatus for batch processing a semiconductor wafer |
US5518549A (en) * | 1995-04-18 | 1996-05-21 | Memc Electronic Materials, Inc. | Susceptor and baffle therefor |
US6284312B1 (en) * | 1999-02-19 | 2001-09-04 | Gt Equipment Technologies Inc | Method and apparatus for chemical vapor deposition of polysilicon |
US6365225B1 (en) * | 1999-02-19 | 2002-04-02 | G.T. Equipment Technologies, Inc. | Cold wall reactor and method for chemical vapor deposition of bulk polysilicon |
US8809096B1 (en) * | 2009-10-22 | 2014-08-19 | Stion Corporation | Bell jar extraction tool method and apparatus for thin film photovoltaic materials |
Family Cites Families (247)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3520732A (en) | 1965-10-22 | 1970-07-14 | Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd | Photovoltaic cell and process of preparation of same |
US3828722A (en) | 1970-05-01 | 1974-08-13 | Cogar Corp | Apparatus for producing ion-free insulating layers |
US3975211A (en) | 1975-03-28 | 1976-08-17 | Westinghouse Electric Corporation | Solar cells and method for making same |
US4062038A (en) | 1976-01-28 | 1977-12-06 | International Business Machines Corporation | Radiation responsive device |
US4332974A (en) | 1979-06-28 | 1982-06-01 | Chevron Research Company | Multilayer photovoltaic cell |
US4263336A (en) | 1979-11-23 | 1981-04-21 | Motorola, Inc. | Reduced pressure induction heated reactor and method |
DE3177084D1 (en) | 1980-04-10 | 1989-09-21 | Massachusetts Inst Technology | Method of producing sheets of crystalline material |
US5217564A (en) | 1980-04-10 | 1993-06-08 | Massachusetts Institute Of Technology | Method of producing sheets of crystalline material and devices made therefrom |
US4335266A (en) | 1980-12-31 | 1982-06-15 | The Boeing Company | Methods for forming thin-film heterojunction solar cells from I-III-VI.sub.2 |
US4441113A (en) | 1981-02-13 | 1984-04-03 | Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. | P-Type semiconductor material having a wide band gap |
US4465575A (en) | 1981-09-21 | 1984-08-14 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Method for forming photovoltaic cells employing multinary semiconductor films |
DE3314197A1 (en) | 1982-04-28 | 1983-11-03 | Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., 48084 Troy, Mich. | P-CONDUCTING AMORPHOUS SILICON ALLOY WITH A LARGE BAND GAP AND MANUFACTURING PROCESS THEREFOR |
US4442310A (en) | 1982-07-15 | 1984-04-10 | Rca Corporation | Photodetector having enhanced back reflection |
US4518855A (en) | 1982-09-30 | 1985-05-21 | Spring-Mornne, Inc. | Method and apparatus for statically aligning shafts and monitoring shaft alignment |
US4461922A (en) | 1983-02-14 | 1984-07-24 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Solar cell module |
US4471155A (en) | 1983-04-15 | 1984-09-11 | Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. | Narrow band gap photovoltaic devices with enhanced open circuit voltage |
US4517403A (en) | 1983-05-16 | 1985-05-14 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Series connected solar cells and method of formation |
US4724011A (en) | 1983-05-16 | 1988-02-09 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Solar cell interconnection by discrete conductive regions |
US4598306A (en) | 1983-07-28 | 1986-07-01 | Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. | Barrier layer for photovoltaic devices |
US4499658A (en) | 1983-09-06 | 1985-02-19 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Solar cell laminates |
US4589194A (en) | 1983-12-29 | 1986-05-20 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Ultrasonic scribing of thin film solar cells |
US4542255A (en) | 1984-01-03 | 1985-09-17 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Gridded thin film solar cell |
US4581108A (en) | 1984-01-06 | 1986-04-08 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Process of forming a compound semiconductive material |
US4661370A (en) | 1984-02-08 | 1987-04-28 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Electric discharge processing of thin films |
US4507181A (en) | 1984-02-17 | 1985-03-26 | Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. | Method of electro-coating a semiconductor device |
US4611091A (en) | 1984-12-06 | 1986-09-09 | Atlantic Richfield Company | CuInSe2 thin film solar cell with thin CdS and transparent window layer |
US4599154A (en) | 1985-03-15 | 1986-07-08 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Electrically enhanced liquid jet processing |
US4663495A (en) | 1985-06-04 | 1987-05-05 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Transparent photovoltaic module |
US4623601A (en) | 1985-06-04 | 1986-11-18 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Photoconductive device containing zinc oxide transparent conductive layer |
US4638111A (en) | 1985-06-04 | 1987-01-20 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Thin film solar cell module |
JPH0682625B2 (en) | 1985-06-04 | 1994-10-19 | シーメンス ソーラー インダストリーズ,エル.ピー. | Deposition method of zinc oxide film |
US4798660A (en) | 1985-07-16 | 1989-01-17 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Method for forming Cu In Se2 films |
US4625070A (en) | 1985-08-30 | 1986-11-25 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Laminated thin film solar module |
JPS6273784A (en) | 1985-09-27 | 1987-04-04 | Sanyo Electric Co Ltd | Photovoltaic device |
US4865999A (en) | 1987-07-08 | 1989-09-12 | Glasstech Solar, Inc. | Solar cell fabrication method |
US4775425A (en) | 1987-07-27 | 1988-10-04 | Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. | P and n-type microcrystalline semiconductor alloy material including band gap widening elements, devices utilizing same |
US4816082A (en) | 1987-08-19 | 1989-03-28 | Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. | Thin film solar cell including a spatially modulated intrinsic layer |
US4968354A (en) | 1987-11-09 | 1990-11-06 | Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. | Thin film solar cell array |
US5045409A (en) | 1987-11-27 | 1991-09-03 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Process for making thin film solar cell |
US4793283A (en) | 1987-12-10 | 1988-12-27 | Sarkozy Robert F | Apparatus for chemical vapor deposition with clean effluent and improved product yield |
US5008062A (en) | 1988-01-20 | 1991-04-16 | Siemens Solar Industries, L.P. | Method of fabricating photovoltaic module |
US5259883A (en) | 1988-02-16 | 1993-11-09 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Method of thermally processing semiconductor wafers and an apparatus therefor |
US4915745A (en) | 1988-09-22 | 1990-04-10 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Thin film solar cell and method of making |
US5180686A (en) | 1988-10-31 | 1993-01-19 | Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. | Method for continuously deposting a transparent oxide material by chemical pyrolysis |
US4873118A (en) | 1988-11-18 | 1989-10-10 | Atlantic Richfield Company | Oxygen glow treating of ZnO electrode for thin film silicon solar cell |
US4996108A (en) | 1989-01-17 | 1991-02-26 | Simon Fraser University | Sheets of transition metal dichalcogenides |
US4950615A (en) | 1989-02-06 | 1990-08-21 | International Solar Electric Technology, Inc. | Method and making group IIB metal - telluride films and solar cells |
FR2646560B1 (en) | 1989-04-27 | 1994-01-14 | Solems Sa | METHOD FOR IMPROVING THE SPECTRAL RESPONSE OF AN IMPROVED PHOTOCONDUCTOR STRUCTURE, SOLAR CELL AND PHOTORECEPTIVE STRUCTURE |
US5028274A (en) | 1989-06-07 | 1991-07-02 | International Solar Electric Technology, Inc. | Group I-III-VI2 semiconductor films for solar cell application |
DE69024304T2 (en) | 1989-09-06 | 1996-07-18 | Sanyo Electric Co | Manufacturing process for a flexible photovoltaic device |
US5078803A (en) | 1989-09-22 | 1992-01-07 | Siemens Solar Industries L.P. | Solar cells incorporating transparent electrodes comprising hazy zinc oxide |
JPH03124067A (en) | 1989-10-07 | 1991-05-27 | Showa Shell Sekiyu Kk | Photovoltaic device and its manufacture |
US5011565A (en) | 1989-12-06 | 1991-04-30 | Mobil Solar Energy Corporation | Dotted contact solar cell and method of making same |
US5154777A (en) | 1990-02-26 | 1992-10-13 | Mcdonnell Douglas Corporation | Advanced survivable space solar power system |
DK170189B1 (en) | 1990-05-30 | 1995-06-06 | Yakov Safir | Process for the manufacture of semiconductor components, as well as solar cells made therefrom |
EP0460287A1 (en) | 1990-05-31 | 1991-12-11 | Siemens Aktiengesellschaft | Novel chalcopyrite solar cell |
DE59009771D1 (en) | 1990-07-24 | 1995-11-16 | Siemens Ag | Process for the manufacture of a chalcopyrite solar cell. |
JP2729239B2 (en) | 1990-10-17 | 1998-03-18 | 昭和シェル石油株式会社 | Integrated photovoltaic device |
US5528397A (en) | 1991-12-03 | 1996-06-18 | Kopin Corporation | Single crystal silicon transistors for display panels |
US5336381A (en) | 1991-01-07 | 1994-08-09 | United Technologies Corporation | Electrophoresis process for preparation of ceramic fibers |
US6784492B1 (en) | 1991-03-18 | 2004-08-31 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Semiconductor device including a gate-insulated transistor |
JPH0788063A (en) | 1991-05-08 | 1995-04-04 | Sharp Corp | Handle holding structure |
US5211824A (en) | 1991-10-31 | 1993-05-18 | Siemens Solar Industries L.P. | Method and apparatus for sputtering of a liquid |
US5231047A (en) | 1991-12-19 | 1993-07-27 | Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. | High quality photovoltaic semiconductor material and laser ablation method of fabrication same |
US5501744A (en) | 1992-01-13 | 1996-03-26 | Photon Energy, Inc. | Photovoltaic cell having a p-type polycrystalline layer with large crystals |
US5261968A (en) | 1992-01-13 | 1993-11-16 | Photon Energy, Inc. | Photovoltaic cell and method |
JPH05243596A (en) | 1992-03-02 | 1993-09-21 | Showa Shell Sekiyu Kk | Manufacture of laminated type solar cell |
US5512107A (en) | 1992-03-19 | 1996-04-30 | Siemens Solar Gmbh | Environmentally stable thin-film solar module |
US5248349A (en) | 1992-05-12 | 1993-09-28 | Solar Cells, Inc. | Process for making photovoltaic devices and resultant product |
US5298086A (en) | 1992-05-15 | 1994-03-29 | United Solar Systems Corporation | Method for the manufacture of improved efficiency tandem photovoltaic device and device manufactured thereby |
EP0574716B1 (en) | 1992-05-19 | 1996-08-21 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Method for preparing chalcopyrite-type compound |
WO1994000869A1 (en) | 1992-06-29 | 1994-01-06 | United Solar Systems Corporation | Microwave energized deposition process with substrate temperature control |
ES2121900T3 (en) | 1992-06-29 | 1998-12-16 | Canon Kk | RESIN COMPOSITION FOR SEALING AND SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE COVERED WITH SUCH SEALING RESIN COMPOSITION. |
US5578503A (en) | 1992-09-22 | 1996-11-26 | Siemens Aktiengesellschaft | Rapid process for producing a chalcopyrite semiconductor on a substrate |
US5474939A (en) | 1992-12-30 | 1995-12-12 | Siemens Solar Industries International | Method of making thin film heterojunction solar cell |
US5436204A (en) | 1993-04-12 | 1995-07-25 | Midwest Research Institute | Recrystallization method to selenization of thin-film Cu(In,Ga)Se2 for semiconductor device applications |
DE4333407C1 (en) | 1993-09-30 | 1994-11-17 | Siemens Ag | Solar cell comprising a chalcopyrite absorber layer |
US5738731A (en) | 1993-11-19 | 1998-04-14 | Mega Chips Corporation | Photovoltaic device |
EP0658924B1 (en) | 1993-12-17 | 2000-07-12 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Method of manufacturing electron-emitting device, electron source and image-forming apparatus |
US5858819A (en) | 1994-06-15 | 1999-01-12 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Fabrication method for a thin film semiconductor device, the thin film semiconductor device itself, liquid crystal display, and electronic device |
US5578103A (en) | 1994-08-17 | 1996-11-26 | Corning Incorporated | Alkali metal ion migration control |
DE4442824C1 (en) | 1994-12-01 | 1996-01-25 | Siemens Ag | Solar cell having higher degree of activity |
US5698496A (en) | 1995-02-10 | 1997-12-16 | Lucent Technologies Inc. | Method for making an anisotropically conductive composite medium |
EP0729189A1 (en) | 1995-02-21 | 1996-08-28 | Interuniversitair Micro-Elektronica Centrum Vzw | Method of preparing solar cells and products obtained thereof |
US5674325A (en) | 1995-06-07 | 1997-10-07 | Photon Energy, Inc. | Thin film photovoltaic device and process of manufacture |
US6743723B2 (en) | 1995-09-14 | 2004-06-01 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Method for fabricating semiconductor device |
US5977476A (en) | 1996-10-16 | 1999-11-02 | United Solar Systems Corporation | High efficiency photovoltaic device |
JP3249407B2 (en) | 1996-10-25 | 2002-01-21 | 昭和シェル石油株式会社 | Thin-film solar cells composed of chalcopyrite-based multi-compound semiconductor thin-film light-absorbing layers |
JP3249408B2 (en) | 1996-10-25 | 2002-01-21 | 昭和シェル石油株式会社 | Method and apparatus for manufacturing thin film light absorbing layer of thin film solar cell |
JP3527815B2 (en) | 1996-11-08 | 2004-05-17 | 昭和シェル石油株式会社 | Method for producing transparent conductive film of thin film solar cell |
US5925228A (en) | 1997-01-09 | 1999-07-20 | Sandia Corporation | Electrophoretically active sol-gel processes to backfill, seal, and/or densify porous, flawed, and/or cracked coatings on electrically conductive material |
US5985691A (en) | 1997-05-16 | 1999-11-16 | International Solar Electric Technology, Inc. | Method of making compound semiconductor films and making related electronic devices |
JPH1154773A (en) | 1997-08-01 | 1999-02-26 | Canon Inc | Photovoltaic element and its manufacture |
DE19741832A1 (en) | 1997-09-23 | 1999-03-25 | Inst Solarenergieforschung | Method of manufacturing a solar cell and solar cell |
US6258620B1 (en) | 1997-10-15 | 2001-07-10 | University Of South Florida | Method of manufacturing CIGS photovoltaic devices |
US6667492B1 (en) | 1997-11-10 | 2003-12-23 | Don L. Kendall | Quantum ridges and tips |
EP0985510B1 (en) | 1998-02-05 | 2003-09-24 | Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. | Article with uneven surface, process for producing the same, and composition therefor |
US6107562A (en) | 1998-03-24 | 2000-08-22 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Semiconductor thin film, method for manufacturing the same, and solar cell using the same |
US6344608B2 (en) | 1998-06-30 | 2002-02-05 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Photovoltaic element |
US6127202A (en) | 1998-07-02 | 2000-10-03 | International Solar Electronic Technology, Inc. | Oxide-based method of making compound semiconductor films and making related electronic devices |
US6077722A (en) | 1998-07-14 | 2000-06-20 | Bp Solarex | Producing thin film photovoltaic modules with high integrity interconnects and dual layer contacts |
US6451415B1 (en) | 1998-08-19 | 2002-09-17 | The Trustees Of Princeton University | Organic photosensitive optoelectronic device with an exciton blocking layer |
JP3428931B2 (en) | 1998-09-09 | 2003-07-22 | キヤノン株式会社 | Flat panel display dismantling method |
US6323417B1 (en) | 1998-09-29 | 2001-11-27 | Lockheed Martin Corporation | Method of making I-III-VI semiconductor materials for use in photovoltaic cells |
JP2000150861A (en) | 1998-11-16 | 2000-05-30 | Tdk Corp | Oxide thin film |
JP3667178B2 (en) | 1998-11-24 | 2005-07-06 | キヤノン株式会社 | Method for producing zinc oxide thin film, method for producing photovoltaic element using the same, and photovoltaic element |
JP2000173969A (en) | 1998-12-03 | 2000-06-23 | Canon Inc | Rinsing method and photovoltaic element |
JP2001156321A (en) | 1999-03-09 | 2001-06-08 | Fuji Xerox Co Ltd | Semiconductor device and its manufacturing method |
US6160215A (en) | 1999-03-26 | 2000-12-12 | Curtin; Lawrence F. | Method of making photovoltaic device |
US6307148B1 (en) | 1999-03-29 | 2001-10-23 | Shinko Electric Industries Co., Ltd. | Compound semiconductor solar cell and production method thereof |
US6328871B1 (en) | 1999-08-16 | 2001-12-11 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Barrier layer for electroplating processes |
EP1261990A1 (en) | 2000-02-07 | 2002-12-04 | CIS Solartechnik Gmbh | Flexible metal substrate for cis solar cells, and method for producing the same |
US6372538B1 (en) | 2000-03-16 | 2002-04-16 | University Of Delaware | Fabrication of thin-film, flexible photovoltaic module |
US7194197B1 (en) | 2000-03-16 | 2007-03-20 | Global Solar Energy, Inc. | Nozzle-based, vapor-phase, plume delivery structure for use in production of thin-film deposition layer |
US6310281B1 (en) | 2000-03-16 | 2001-10-30 | Global Solar Energy, Inc. | Thin-film, flexible photovoltaic module |
US7414188B2 (en) | 2002-01-25 | 2008-08-19 | Konarka Technologies, Inc. | Co-sensitizers for dye sensitized solar cells |
US6423565B1 (en) | 2000-05-30 | 2002-07-23 | Kurt L. Barth | Apparatus and processes for the massproduction of photovotaic modules |
AU2001286649B2 (en) | 2000-08-22 | 2007-04-05 | President And Fellows Of Harvard College | Doped elongated semiconductors, growing such semiconductors, devices including such semiconductors and fabricating such devices |
US7301199B2 (en) | 2000-08-22 | 2007-11-27 | President And Fellows Of Harvard College | Nanoscale wires and related devices |
JP2002196337A (en) | 2000-09-06 | 2002-07-12 | Seiko Epson Corp | Manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus for optoelectronic device and manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus for liquid crystal panel |
JP2002167695A (en) | 2000-09-19 | 2002-06-11 | Canon Inc | Method for depositing zinc oxide film and method for producing photovolatic element using the film |
US6576112B2 (en) | 2000-09-19 | 2003-06-10 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Method of forming zinc oxide film and process for producing photovoltaic device using it |
DE10104726A1 (en) | 2001-02-02 | 2002-08-08 | Siemens Solar Gmbh | Process for structuring an oxide layer applied to a carrier material |
JP4827303B2 (en) | 2001-03-12 | 2011-11-30 | キヤノン株式会社 | Photovoltaic element, TFT, and method for forming i-type semiconductor layer |
US6858308B2 (en) | 2001-03-12 | 2005-02-22 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Semiconductor element, and method of forming silicon-based film |
JP2002299670A (en) | 2001-04-03 | 2002-10-11 | Canon Inc | Silicon-based thin film and photovoltaic element |
US7842882B2 (en) | 2004-03-01 | 2010-11-30 | Basol Bulent M | Low cost and high throughput deposition methods and apparatus for high density semiconductor film growth |
US7053294B2 (en) | 2001-07-13 | 2006-05-30 | Midwest Research Institute | Thin-film solar cell fabricated on a flexible metallic substrate |
JP4236081B2 (en) | 2001-10-16 | 2009-03-11 | 大日本印刷株式会社 | Method for producing pattern forming body |
WO2003036657A1 (en) | 2001-10-19 | 2003-05-01 | Asahi Glass Company, Limited | Substrate with transparent conductive oxide film and production method therefor, and photoelectric conversion element |
US6635307B2 (en) | 2001-12-12 | 2003-10-21 | Nanotek Instruments, Inc. | Manufacturing method for thin-film solar cells |
US7276749B2 (en) | 2002-02-05 | 2007-10-02 | E-Phocus, Inc. | Image sensor with microcrystalline germanium photodiode layer |
US6690041B2 (en) | 2002-05-14 | 2004-02-10 | Global Solar Energy, Inc. | Monolithically integrated diodes in thin-film photovoltaic devices |
US7560641B2 (en) | 2002-06-17 | 2009-07-14 | Shalini Menezes | Thin film solar cell configuration and fabrication method |
US7291782B2 (en) | 2002-06-22 | 2007-11-06 | Nanosolar, Inc. | Optoelectronic device and fabrication method |
US6852920B2 (en) | 2002-06-22 | 2005-02-08 | Nanosolar, Inc. | Nano-architected/assembled solar electricity cell |
CN100584921C (en) | 2002-09-05 | 2010-01-27 | 奈米***股份有限公司 | Organic species that facilitate charge transfer to or from nanostructures |
JP2005538573A (en) | 2002-09-05 | 2005-12-15 | ナノシス・インク. | Compositions based on nanostructures and nanocomposites |
EP1556902A4 (en) | 2002-09-30 | 2009-07-29 | Miasole | Manufacturing apparatus and method for large-scale production of thin-film solar cells |
JP3570515B2 (en) | 2002-10-15 | 2004-09-29 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Method and apparatus for forming porous insulating film and electronic device manufactured using the method |
US6849798B2 (en) | 2002-12-17 | 2005-02-01 | General Electric Company | Photovoltaic cell using stable Cu2O nanocrystals and conductive polymers |
US6936761B2 (en) | 2003-03-29 | 2005-08-30 | Nanosolar, Inc. | Transparent electrode, optoelectronic apparatus and devices |
US7279832B2 (en) | 2003-04-01 | 2007-10-09 | Innovalight, Inc. | Phosphor materials and illumination devices made therefrom |
US20040252488A1 (en) | 2003-04-01 | 2004-12-16 | Innovalight | Light-emitting ceiling tile |
EP1619728A4 (en) | 2003-04-09 | 2006-08-09 | Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd | Solar cell |
JP2004332043A (en) | 2003-05-07 | 2004-11-25 | Canon Inc | Method and apparatus for forming zinc oxide thin film and method for forming photovoltaic element |
US7462774B2 (en) | 2003-05-21 | 2008-12-09 | Nanosolar, Inc. | Photovoltaic devices fabricated from insulating nanostructured template |
US7265037B2 (en) | 2003-06-20 | 2007-09-04 | The Regents Of The University Of California | Nanowire array and nanowire solar cells and methods for forming the same |
US8785765B2 (en) | 2003-07-14 | 2014-07-22 | Fujikura Ltd. | Electrolyte composition, photoelectric converter and dye-sensitized solar cell using same |
KR101024288B1 (en) | 2003-07-24 | 2011-03-29 | 가부시키가이샤 가네카 | Silicon based thin film solar cell |
WO2005034247A1 (en) | 2003-09-03 | 2005-04-14 | Midwest Research Institute | Zno/cu(inga)se2 solar cells prepared by vapor phase zn doping |
EP1521308A1 (en) | 2003-10-02 | 2005-04-06 | Scheuten Glasgroep | Ball or grain-shaped semiconductor element to be used in solar cells and method of production; method of production of a solar cell with said semiconductor element and solar cell |
US20070163643A1 (en) | 2004-02-19 | 2007-07-19 | Nanosolar, Inc. | High-throughput printing of chalcogen layer and the use of an inter-metallic material |
US8623448B2 (en) | 2004-02-19 | 2014-01-07 | Nanosolar, Inc. | High-throughput printing of semiconductor precursor layer from chalcogenide microflake particles |
US20070169810A1 (en) | 2004-02-19 | 2007-07-26 | Nanosolar, Inc. | High-throughput printing of semiconductor precursor layer by use of chalcogen-containing vapor |
EP1724840B1 (en) | 2004-02-20 | 2013-05-08 | Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha | Photoelectric cell |
US7441413B2 (en) | 2004-03-23 | 2008-10-28 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Refrigerator and control method thereof |
JP2005311292A (en) | 2004-03-25 | 2005-11-04 | Kaneka Corp | Substrate for thin film solar cell, manufacturing method therefor, and thin film solar cell using the same |
US7122398B1 (en) | 2004-03-25 | 2006-10-17 | Nanosolar, Inc. | Manufacturing of optoelectronic devices |
JP4695850B2 (en) | 2004-04-28 | 2011-06-08 | 本田技研工業株式会社 | Chalcopyrite solar cell |
WO2005109525A1 (en) | 2004-05-11 | 2005-11-17 | Honda Motor Co., Ltd. | Method for manufacturing chalcopyrite thin-film solar cell |
TW201341440A (en) | 2004-06-08 | 2013-10-16 | Sandisk Corp | Post-deposition encapsulation of nanostructures: compositions, devices and systems incorporating same |
CN102064102B (en) | 2004-06-08 | 2013-10-30 | 桑迪士克公司 | Methods and devices for forming nanostructure monolayers and devices including such monolayers |
US7446335B2 (en) | 2004-06-18 | 2008-11-04 | Regents Of The University Of Minnesota | Process and apparatus for forming nanoparticles using radiofrequency plasmas |
US7442320B2 (en) | 2004-06-18 | 2008-10-28 | Ultradots, Inc. | Nanostructured materials and photovoltaic devices including nanostructured materials |
JP2006049768A (en) | 2004-08-09 | 2006-02-16 | Showa Shell Sekiyu Kk | Cis compound semiconductor thin film solar battery and manufacturing method for light absorbing layer of solar battery |
US7750352B2 (en) | 2004-08-10 | 2010-07-06 | Pinion Technologies, Inc. | Light strips for lighting and backlighting applications |
US7276724B2 (en) | 2005-01-20 | 2007-10-02 | Nanosolar, Inc. | Series interconnected optoelectronic device module assembly |
US7732229B2 (en) | 2004-09-18 | 2010-06-08 | Nanosolar, Inc. | Formation of solar cells with conductive barrier layers and foil substrates |
US20060249202A1 (en) | 2004-09-20 | 2006-11-09 | Seunghyup Yoo | Photovoltaic cell |
EP1810344A2 (en) | 2004-11-10 | 2007-07-25 | Daystar Technologies, Inc. | Pallet based system for forming thin-film solar cells |
EP1836736A2 (en) | 2004-11-10 | 2007-09-26 | Daystar Technologies, Inc. | Process and photovoltaic device using an akali-containing layer |
WO2006053218A2 (en) | 2004-11-10 | 2006-05-18 | Daystar Technologies, Inc. | Pressure control system in a photovoltaic substrate deposition |
EP1817113A1 (en) | 2004-11-10 | 2007-08-15 | Daystar Technologies, Inc. | Thermal process for creation of an in-situ junction layer in cigs |
EP1809785A2 (en) | 2004-11-10 | 2007-07-25 | Daystar Technologies, Inc. | Vertical production of photovoltaic devices |
US20060112983A1 (en) | 2004-11-17 | 2006-06-01 | Nanosys, Inc. | Photoactive devices and components with enhanced efficiency |
US20060130890A1 (en) | 2004-12-20 | 2006-06-22 | Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated. | Heterojunction photovoltaic cell |
JP2006179626A (en) | 2004-12-22 | 2006-07-06 | Showa Shell Sekiyu Kk | Cis system thin film solar cell module, and its manufacturing method and separation method |
JP4131965B2 (en) | 2004-12-28 | 2008-08-13 | 昭和シェル石油株式会社 | Method for producing light absorption layer of CIS thin film solar cell |
JP2006183117A (en) | 2004-12-28 | 2006-07-13 | Showa Shell Sekiyu Kk | METHOD FOR PRODUCING ZnO-BASED TRANSPARENT ELECTROCONDUCTIVE FILM BY USING MOCVD (ORGANO-METAL CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION) PROCESS |
JP2006186200A (en) | 2004-12-28 | 2006-07-13 | Showa Shell Sekiyu Kk | Precursor film and film formation method therefor |
KR100495925B1 (en) | 2005-01-12 | 2005-06-17 | (주)인솔라텍 | Optical absorber layers for solar cell and manufacturing method thereof |
JP5010806B2 (en) | 2005-02-01 | 2012-08-29 | 日本ペイント株式会社 | Powder coating composition and method for coating aluminum wheel |
JP4801928B2 (en) | 2005-04-25 | 2011-10-26 | 富士フイルム株式会社 | Organic electroluminescence device |
JP4841173B2 (en) | 2005-05-27 | 2011-12-21 | 昭和シェル石油株式会社 | High resistance buffer layer / window layer continuous film forming method and film forming apparatus for CIS thin film solar cell |
JP3963924B2 (en) | 2005-07-22 | 2007-08-22 | 本田技研工業株式会社 | Chalcopyrite solar cell |
US8030121B2 (en) | 2005-08-05 | 2011-10-04 | First Solar, Inc | Manufacture of photovoltaic devices |
FR2890232A1 (en) | 2005-08-23 | 2007-03-02 | Saint Gobain | COPLANAR DISCHARGE PLANE LAMP AND USES THEREFOR |
JP2007123721A (en) | 2005-10-31 | 2007-05-17 | Rohm Co Ltd | Photoelectric transducer and method of manufacturing same |
US7442413B2 (en) | 2005-11-18 | 2008-10-28 | Daystar Technologies, Inc. | Methods and apparatus for treating a work piece with a vaporous element |
DE102005062977B3 (en) | 2005-12-28 | 2007-09-13 | Sulfurcell Solartechnik Gmbh | Method and apparatus for converting metallic precursor layers to chalcopyrite layers of CIGSS solar cells |
US8389852B2 (en) | 2006-02-22 | 2013-03-05 | Guardian Industries Corp. | Electrode structure for use in electronic device and method of making same |
US7235736B1 (en) | 2006-03-18 | 2007-06-26 | Solyndra, Inc. | Monolithic integration of cylindrical solar cells |
US8017860B2 (en) | 2006-05-15 | 2011-09-13 | Stion Corporation | Method and structure for thin film photovoltaic materials using bulk semiconductor materials |
US9105776B2 (en) | 2006-05-15 | 2015-08-11 | Stion Corporation | Method and structure for thin film photovoltaic materials using semiconductor materials |
US20100029036A1 (en) | 2006-06-12 | 2010-02-04 | Robinson Matthew R | Thin-film devices formed from solid group iiia particles |
US7879685B2 (en) | 2006-08-04 | 2011-02-01 | Solyndra, Inc. | System and method for creating electric isolation between layers comprising solar cells |
TW200810167A (en) | 2006-08-09 | 2008-02-16 | Ind Tech Res Inst | Dye-sensitized solar cell and the method of fabricating thereof |
DE102006041046A1 (en) | 2006-09-01 | 2008-03-06 | Cis Solartechnik Gmbh & Co. Kg | Solar cell, process for the production of solar cells and electrical trace |
US8426722B2 (en) | 2006-10-24 | 2013-04-23 | Zetta Research and Development LLC—AQT Series | Semiconductor grain and oxide layer for photovoltaic cells |
US8203073B2 (en) | 2006-11-02 | 2012-06-19 | Guardian Industries Corp. | Front electrode for use in photovoltaic device and method of making same |
FR2908406B1 (en) | 2006-11-14 | 2012-08-24 | Saint Gobain | POROUS LAYER, METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME, AND APPLICATIONS THEREOF |
US20080121264A1 (en) | 2006-11-28 | 2008-05-29 | Industrial Technology Research Institute | Thin film solar module and method of fabricating the same |
ES2624054T3 (en) | 2006-12-21 | 2017-07-12 | Hyet Energy Systems B.V. | Procedure for the manufacture of solar sub-cells from a solar cell |
EP2115783A2 (en) | 2007-01-31 | 2009-11-11 | Jeroen K.J. Van Duren | Solar cell absorber layer formed from metal ion precursors |
US20080204696A1 (en) | 2007-02-28 | 2008-08-28 | Tdk Corporation | Method of alignment |
KR100882668B1 (en) | 2007-07-18 | 2009-02-06 | 삼성모바일디스플레이주식회사 | Organic light emitting display device and method of manufacturing the same |
FR2919429B1 (en) | 2007-07-27 | 2009-10-09 | Saint Gobain | FRONT PANEL SUBSTRATE OF PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL AND USE OF A SUBSTRATE FOR A FRONT PANEL OF PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL |
US20090087939A1 (en) | 2007-09-28 | 2009-04-02 | Stion Corporation | Column structure thin film material using metal oxide bearing semiconductor material for solar cell devices |
US8287942B1 (en) | 2007-09-28 | 2012-10-16 | Stion Corporation | Method for manufacture of semiconductor bearing thin film material |
JP2009099476A (en) | 2007-10-19 | 2009-05-07 | Sony Corp | Dye-sensitized photoelectric conversion element and its manufacturing method |
US8187434B1 (en) | 2007-11-14 | 2012-05-29 | Stion Corporation | Method and system for large scale manufacture of thin film photovoltaic devices using single-chamber configuration |
JP2009135337A (en) | 2007-11-30 | 2009-06-18 | Showa Shell Sekiyu Kk | Laminate structure, integrated structure and manufacturing method, of cis-based solar cell |
US8001283B2 (en) | 2008-03-12 | 2011-08-16 | Mips Technologies, Inc. | Efficient, scalable and high performance mechanism for handling IO requests |
US8981211B2 (en) | 2008-03-18 | 2015-03-17 | Zetta Research and Development LLC—AQT Series | Interlayer design for epitaxial growth of semiconductor layers |
US20090235987A1 (en) | 2008-03-24 | 2009-09-24 | Epv Solar, Inc. | Chemical Treatments to Enhance Photovoltaic Performance of CIGS |
US7968353B2 (en) | 2008-04-15 | 2011-06-28 | Global Solar Energy, Inc. | Apparatus and methods for manufacturing thin-film solar cells |
JP4384237B2 (en) | 2008-05-19 | 2009-12-16 | 昭和シェル石油株式会社 | CIS type thin film solar cell manufacturing method |
FR2932009B1 (en) | 2008-06-02 | 2010-09-17 | Saint Gobain | PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL AND PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL SUBSTRATE |
US8003432B2 (en) | 2008-06-25 | 2011-08-23 | Stion Corporation | Consumable adhesive layer for thin film photovoltaic material |
US7855089B2 (en) | 2008-09-10 | 2010-12-21 | Stion Corporation | Application specific solar cell and method for manufacture using thin film photovoltaic materials |
US8026122B1 (en) | 2008-09-29 | 2011-09-27 | Stion Corporation | Metal species surface treatment of thin film photovoltaic cell and manufacturing method |
US8008111B1 (en) | 2008-09-29 | 2011-08-30 | Stion Corporation | Bulk copper species treatment of thin film photovoltaic cell and manufacturing method |
US8008112B1 (en) | 2008-09-29 | 2011-08-30 | Stion Corporation | Bulk chloride species treatment of thin film photovoltaic cell and manufacturing method |
US8008110B1 (en) | 2008-09-29 | 2011-08-30 | Stion Corporation | Bulk sodium species treatment of thin film photovoltaic cell and manufacturing method |
US8053274B2 (en) | 2008-09-30 | 2011-11-08 | Stion Corporation | Self cleaning large scale method and furnace system for selenization of thin film photovoltaic materials |
US7863074B2 (en) | 2008-09-30 | 2011-01-04 | Stion Corporation | Patterning electrode materials free from berm structures for thin film photovoltaic cells |
US7947524B2 (en) | 2008-09-30 | 2011-05-24 | Stion Corporation | Humidity control and method for thin film photovoltaic materials |
US7910399B1 (en) | 2008-09-30 | 2011-03-22 | Stion Corporation | Thermal management and method for large scale processing of CIS and/or CIGS based thin films overlying glass substrates |
US7960204B2 (en) | 2008-09-30 | 2011-06-14 | Stion Corporation | Method and structure for adhesion of absorber material for thin film photovoltaic cell |
US8217261B2 (en) | 2008-09-30 | 2012-07-10 | Stion Corporation | Thin film sodium species barrier method and structure for cigs based thin film photovoltaic cell |
US8741689B2 (en) | 2008-10-01 | 2014-06-03 | Stion Corporation | Thermal pre-treatment process for soda lime glass substrate for thin film photovoltaic materials |
US20110018103A1 (en) | 2008-10-02 | 2011-01-27 | Stion Corporation | System and method for transferring substrates in large scale processing of cigs and/or cis devices |
US8003430B1 (en) | 2008-10-06 | 2011-08-23 | Stion Corporation | Sulfide species treatment of thin film photovoltaic cell and manufacturing method |
US8168463B2 (en) | 2008-10-17 | 2012-05-01 | Stion Corporation | Zinc oxide film method and structure for CIGS cell |
US8344243B2 (en) | 2008-11-20 | 2013-01-01 | Stion Corporation | Method and structure for thin film photovoltaic cell using similar material junction |
WO2010091025A2 (en) | 2009-02-04 | 2010-08-12 | Applied Materials, Inc. | Metrology and inspection suite for a solar production line |
US8197912B2 (en) | 2009-03-12 | 2012-06-12 | International Business Machines Corporation | Precision separation of PV thin film stacks |
US8859880B2 (en) | 2010-01-22 | 2014-10-14 | Stion Corporation | Method and structure for tiling industrial thin-film solar devices |
US8263494B2 (en) | 2010-01-25 | 2012-09-11 | Stion Corporation | Method for improved patterning accuracy for thin film photovoltaic panels |
US8142521B2 (en) | 2010-03-29 | 2012-03-27 | Stion Corporation | Large scale MOCVD system for thin film photovoltaic devices |
US9096930B2 (en) | 2010-03-29 | 2015-08-04 | Stion Corporation | Apparatus for manufacturing thin film photovoltaic devices |
US20110259413A1 (en) | 2010-04-21 | 2011-10-27 | Stion Corporation | Hazy Zinc Oxide Film for Shaped CIGS/CIS Solar Cells |
US20110259395A1 (en) | 2010-04-21 | 2011-10-27 | Stion Corporation | Single Junction CIGS/CIS Solar Module |
US8461061B2 (en) | 2010-07-23 | 2013-06-11 | Stion Corporation | Quartz boat method and apparatus for thin film thermal treatment |
US20120018828A1 (en) | 2010-07-23 | 2012-01-26 | Stion Corporation | Sodium Sputtering Doping Method for Large Scale CIGS Based Thin Film Photovoltaic Materials |
US8628997B2 (en) | 2010-10-01 | 2014-01-14 | Stion Corporation | Method and device for cadmium-free solar cells |
-
2010
- 2010-10-21 US US12/909,563 patent/US8809096B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
2014
- 2014-08-19 US US14/462,866 patent/US20140356105A1/en not_active Abandoned
Patent Citations (6)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3460816A (en) * | 1962-01-02 | 1969-08-12 | Gen Electric | Fluxless aluminum brazing furnace |
US5167716A (en) * | 1990-09-28 | 1992-12-01 | Gasonics, Inc. | Method and apparatus for batch processing a semiconductor wafer |
US5518549A (en) * | 1995-04-18 | 1996-05-21 | Memc Electronic Materials, Inc. | Susceptor and baffle therefor |
US6284312B1 (en) * | 1999-02-19 | 2001-09-04 | Gt Equipment Technologies Inc | Method and apparatus for chemical vapor deposition of polysilicon |
US6365225B1 (en) * | 1999-02-19 | 2002-04-02 | G.T. Equipment Technologies, Inc. | Cold wall reactor and method for chemical vapor deposition of bulk polysilicon |
US8809096B1 (en) * | 2009-10-22 | 2014-08-19 | Stion Corporation | Bell jar extraction tool method and apparatus for thin film photovoltaic materials |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US8809096B1 (en) | 2014-08-19 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US9240513B2 (en) | Dynamic support system for quartz process chamber | |
CN102321877A (en) | Electrode introduction device | |
CN102487103B (en) | Solar cell and preparation method thereof | |
US8809096B1 (en) | Bell jar extraction tool method and apparatus for thin film photovoltaic materials | |
CN102869608A (en) | Bell jar for siemens reactor including thermal radiation shield | |
KR101147658B1 (en) | Plasma processing apparatus and method | |
CN203632591U (en) | Floating-in-the-air solar power generation device | |
EP3866335B1 (en) | Hybrid solar panel for producing electrical energy and thermal energy | |
KR101263337B1 (en) | Laminator | |
CN206635455U (en) | Graphite crucible seat for semiconductor grade monocrystal stove | |
KR101677504B1 (en) | The solar battery module equipped with a linear cell | |
US8398772B1 (en) | Method and structure for processing thin film PV cells with improved temperature uniformity | |
KR101490088B1 (en) | Solar cell recycling jig from waste solar modules and solar cell recycling method from waste solar modules using the same | |
CN202616272U (en) | Small carrier disposing structure | |
John et al. | Evolutionary process development towards next generation crystalline silicon solar cells: a semiconductor process toolbox application | |
CN102637770A (en) | Placement structure and placement method of small flower basket | |
CN104779321A (en) | Method for increasing percent of pass of saw mark cells | |
KR20100113774A (en) | Substrate processing apparatus | |
TWI631717B (en) | High photoelectric conversion efficiency solar cell manufacturing method and high photoelectric conversion efficiency solar cell | |
CN204794205U (en) | From solar energy portable power source that adjusts temperature | |
CN205231083U (en) | Solar cell assembly | |
CN204407309U (en) | Solar silicon wafers bogey | |
CN102142387A (en) | Vertical crystal boat for semiconductor equipment for heat treatment | |
CN210467863U (en) | Monocrystalline silicon texturing equipment of integral type structure | |
CN202297766U (en) | Embedded PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) silicon wafer carrier |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION |