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Large-Scale Deposition of Transparent Conducting Oxides by Hollow Cathode Sputtering

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 June 2011

Alan E. Delahoy ,
Kai Jansen ,
Chris Robinson ,
Anthony Varvar ,
Paul Fabiano ,
Rajesh Kappera ,
Sheyu Guo ,
Hongmei Li  and
Shaohua Yang
Alan E. Delahoy
Affiliation:
New Millennium Solar Equipment Corp., 8 Marlen Dr., Robbinsville, NJ 08691, U.S.A.
Kai Jansen
Affiliation:
New Millennium Solar Equipment Corp., 8 Marlen Dr., Robbinsville, NJ 08691, U.S.A.
Chris Robinson
Affiliation:
New Millennium Solar Equipment Corp., 8 Marlen Dr., Robbinsville, NJ 08691, U.S.A.
Anthony Varvar
Affiliation:
New Millennium Solar Equipment Corp., 8 Marlen Dr., Robbinsville, NJ 08691, U.S.A.
Paul Fabiano
Affiliation:
New Millennium Solar Equipment Corp., 8 Marlen Dr., Robbinsville, NJ 08691, U.S.A.
Rajesh Kappera
Affiliation:
Rutgers University, Dept. of Electrical Engineering Piscataway, NJ 08854, U.S.A.
Sheyu Guo
Affiliation:
Yiri Solartech (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., Wujiang Hi-Tech Park, 2358 Chang An Road, Wujiang City, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China 215200
Hongmei Li
Affiliation:
Yiri Solartech (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., Wujiang Hi-Tech Park, 2358 Chang An Road, Wujiang City, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China 215200
Shaohua Yang
Affiliation:
Yiri Solartech (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., Wujiang Hi-Tech Park, 2358 Chang An Road, Wujiang City, Jiangsu Province, P.R. China 215200
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Abstract

This paper reviews the status of hollow cathode sputtering as an evolving technology for production of thin-film transparent conducting oxides for PV applications. A large market segment for PV TCOs is represented by thin-film a-Si:H and tandem a-Si:H/nc-Si:H modules. For superstrate devices, textured SnO2:F produced on-line by APCVD is currently the market leader, although alternative off-line methods and materials are now emerging. In particular, zinc oxide can be produced by LPCVD, APCVD, magnetron sputtering, and hollow cathode sputtering (HCS). HCS is a stable process featuring low-cost metal targets and a soft deposition process. We discuss the deposition principles and the film results obtained using linear hollow cathodes 0.5 m and 1.0 m in length. We report the direct deposition of highly textured doped ZnO having an electron mobility in excess of 50 cm2/Vs. The production cost of textured ZnO is estimated for several competing techniques.

Keywords

transparent conductorsputteringelectrical properties
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1323: Symposium C – Advanced Materials Processing for Scalable Solar-Cell Manufacturing , 2011 , mrss11-1323-c07-01
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

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References

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