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.

该奖项由 2009 年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法 111-5）资助。该小型企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第二阶段项目旨在开发交钥匙溅射沉积系统，以提供透明导电氧化物 (TCO) 材料的低温薄膜沉积。演示了使用闭场磁控溅射和射频等离子体增强的实验室规模薄膜沉积系统。薄膜的生长温度低于大多数竞争工艺。所开发的沉积工艺的一个关键优势是无需后处理即可生产 TCO（以实现良好的电阻率和透明度），从而简化了与大型扁平聚合物基材的大批量加工兼容的工艺。该项目将展示该工艺与替代 TCO 材料和光伏应用兼容。该技术的更广泛影响/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为许多设备带来重大突破。多年来，硅 (Si) 太阳能电池一直是太阳能行业的支柱，使用单晶硅基板和多层 p-n 结二极管。然而，主要限制因素之一是光伏应用的硅短缺，因为它与半导体行业的现有需求相竞争。许多不同的光伏替代品正在积极开发中，它们利用 TCO 材料提供导电阳极、阴极或两者。只要能够降低制造成本，薄膜太阳能电池就可以成为硅基太阳能电池的良好替代品。薄膜太阳能电池使用厚度只有微米级的半导体材料层，沉积在玻璃、不锈钢或柔性基板上。生产光伏器件的一种经济有效的方法是使用聚合物。然而，目前基于聚合物的光伏器件的器件性能较低，但可以通过制造嵌入基于聚合物的器件结构上的金属氧化物半导体来进一步改善。因此，如果 TCO 薄膜的制造被证明可以在较低温度下在大面积柔性基板上完成，那么该技术将具有成本竞争力。