SBIR Phase II: Closed-Field Magnetron Sputtering with RF Plasma Enhancement for Deposition of Thin Films on Large-Area Flexible Substrates for Photovoltaics Applications

SBIR 第二阶段：采用射频等离子体增强的闭场磁控溅射技术，用于在光伏应用的大面积柔性基板上沉积薄膜

• 批准号: 0923843
• 负责人: Thomas Dockstader
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: Kurt J. Lesker Company
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-08-01 至 2011-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0923843&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Closed; Field

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project seeks to develop a turnkey sputter deposition system to provide low temperature thin film deposition of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) materials. A laboratory scale film deposition system using a closed-field magnetron sputtering with RF plasma enhancement was demonstrated. The thin films were grown at lower temperatures than most competing processes. One key advantage of the deposition process developed is its ability to produce TCOs without the need for post-treatments (to achieve both good resistivity and transparency) thereby simplifying the process compatible for high-volume processing of large flat polymeric substrates. The project will demonstrate the process compatible with alternative TCO materials and with photovoltaic applications.The broader impact/commercial potential from this technology will be innovations in photovoltaic (PV) technology. The ability to tap solar energy more efficiently will lead to major breakthroughs for many devices. For years, silicon (Si) solar cells have been the backbone of the solar industry using monocrystalline Si substrate with multiple layers of p-n junction diodes. However, one of the main limiting factors is the shortage of silicon for PV applications as it competes with the existing requirements in the semiconductor industry. Many different PV alternatives are in active development which utilizes TCO materials to provide the conductive anode, cathode, or both. Thin film solar cells provide a good alternative to Si-based solar cells as long as the fabrication cost can be reduced. Thin film solar cells use layers of semiconducting materials with little micrometer thickness and deposited on glass, stainless steel or flexible substrates. One cost-effective method to produce PV devices is through the use of polymers. However, the current device performance of polymer-based PV devices is low but can further be improved by fabricating metal oxide semiconductors embedded on the polymer-based device structure. Thus, this technology will be cost-competitive if the fabrication of TCO thin films are proven they can be done on large-area flexible substrates at lower temperatures.

该奖项是根据2009年《美国回收与再投资法》（公法111-5）资助的。本小型企业创新研究（SBIR）II期项目旨在开发一个旋转溅射沉积系统，以提供低温薄膜的透明胶片沉积（TCO）材料的低温薄膜。证明了使用闭合场磁控溅射的实验室尺度膜沉积系统，并增强了RF血浆。与大多数竞争过程相比，薄膜在较低的温度下生长。产生的沉积过程的一个关键优点是它可以生产TCO的能力，而无需进行后处理（以达到良好的电阻率和透明度），从而简化了用于大型平坦聚合物基板的大容量处理的过程。该项目将展示与替代TCO材料和光伏应用兼容的过程。该技术的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是光伏（PV）技术的创新。更有效地利用太阳能的能力将导致许多设备的重大突破。多年来，使用多层P-N连接二极管的单晶Si底物，硅（SI）太阳能电池一直是太阳能工业的骨干。但是，主要限制因素之一是PV应用程序的硅短缺，因为它与半导体行业的现有要求竞争。许多不同的PV替代方案是在积极开发中使用TCO材料提供导电阳极，阴极或两者兼而有之。只要可以降低制造成本，薄膜太阳能电池可为基于SI的太阳能电池提供良好的替代方法。薄膜太阳能电池使用少量厚度的半导体材料层，并沉积在玻璃，不锈钢或柔性底物上。生产PV设备的一种经济有效的方法是通过使用聚合物。但是，基于聚合物的PV设备的当前设备性能较低，但可以通过制造嵌入聚合物基于聚合物的设备结构的金属氧化物半导体来进一步改善。因此，如果证明可以在较低温度下在大区域柔性基板上进行tco薄膜的制造，则该技术将具有成本竞争力。