SBIR Phase I: An Efficient, Linear, Free Radical Source for Compound Thin Film Deposition

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This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop an efficient and flexible device to produce a neutral, linearly-extended, free radical flux for photovoltaic and semiconductor industry applications. This source can produce atomic chalcogen species (sulfur, selenium, tellurium) and other types of free radicals (such as atomic oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen or chlorine) for formation of various compound thin films by reactive methods. The project objectives are to increase the chalcogen utilization efficiency, to reduce equipment maintenance cost and to offer higher deposition rate and lower substrate temperature without film quality reduction. The source is flexible, can run over a great range of process parameters, and can be incorporated into many kinds processes such as metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), evaporation or sputtering for reactive thin film deposition. Most importantly, this source can increase the production efficiency of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) and CdTe thin films, which are the next generation of solar energy absorbers.