Method for Depositing Microcrystalline Silicon on a Substrate

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The patent describes a novel method for depositing microcrystalline silicon layers on a substrate using a plasma chamber system. The key innovation is maintaining a high deposition rate (greater than 0.5 nm/s) and depositing thin silicon layers (less than 1000 nanometers) while still achieving high efficiency in the resulting solar cells. The process allows for relaxed requirements on chamber cleanliness and gas purity, which makes it more suitable and cost-effective for industrial-scale solar cell production.

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• Manufacturing of thin-film microcrystalline silicon solar cells with improved production yield and efficiency.
• Production of tandem (a-Si:H/μc-Si:H) solar cells for higher energy conversion rates.
• Cost-effective, high-throughput fabrication of solar modules for large-scale deployment.
• Integration into existing plasma deposition systems for electronics or photovoltaics industries.
• Potential adaptation for the deposition of microcrystalline silicon in sensors or thin-film transistors.

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Enables high-efficiency solar cells even with thin microcrystalline silicon layers, reducing material usage.
• Allows for faster deposition rates, increasing manufacturing throughput and productivity.
• Reduces costs by permitting higher tolerances for oxygen contamination and less demanding vacuum conditions.
• Minimizes degradation in finished solar cells, improving their long-term performance and stability.
• Lowers both capital and operational costs due to reduced requirements for reactor cleanliness and gas purity.

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Patent Abstract

The invention relates to a method for depositing microcrystalline silicon on a substrate in a plasma chamber system, comprising the following steps: the plasma chamber system contains at least one reactive, silicon-containing gas and hydrogen or exclusively hydrogen before the plasma is initiated; the plasma is initiated; exclusively reactive, silicon-containing gas or at least one mixture comprising a reactive, silicon-containing gas and hydrogen is continuously fed to the chamber system once the plasma has been initiated, the concentration of reactive, silicon-containing gas that is fed to the chamber being set at more than 0.5 percent; and the plasma performance is adjusted to within a range of 0.1 and 2.5 W/cm2 of electrode surface, a deposition rate exceeding 0.5 nm/s is selected, and the monocrystalline layer is deposited on the substrate at a thickness of less than 1000 nanometers.