Advance In-line Deposition System and Process Development for High Efficiency Cu(In, Ga)Se_2 Solar Cells

摘要

A novel in-line pilot scale system is being designed and developed jointly by CREST, Loughborough University and Scientific Vacuum Systems (SVS) Ltd. for high performance Cu(In,Ga)Se_2 (or CIGS) solar cells over 30cm × 30cm area on glass substrates. The above collaboration is driven by the need for "off-the-shelf CIGS deposition equipment with a proven process in an industrial environment. This in-line design will reduce the overall cost of the capital equipment and the cost of the modules by integrating the processing of all device layers without breaking vacuum condition. The system offers several innovative aspects and advantages with respect to CIGS solar cell production: ⅰ) it can combine all separate vacuum deposited layers, the Cu(In,Ga)Se_2 absorber, the buffer layer and front and back electrical contacts; ⅱ) the system contains an in-line load lock to achieve higher throughput which can further reduce the overall cost per device. It also avoids the cross contamination of selenium between the sputter and evaporation system; ⅲ) the loading mechanism with the robotic arm features will be capable of handling 30cm × 30cm substrates.