US Patent No: 7,875,486
Number of patents in Portfolio can not be more than 2000
Solar cells and methods and apparatuses for forming the same including I-layer and N-layer chamber cleaning
Stats
-
Jan 25, 2011
Issued date -
Jul 9, 2008
filing date -
12/170,387
serial no -
In Force
status
Importance
Loading Importance Indicators...
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention generally provide an apparatus and method for forming an improved thin film single or multi-junction solar cell in a substrate processing device. One embodiment provides a system that contains at least one processing chamber that is adapted to deposit one or more layers that form a portion of a solar cell device. In one embodiment, a method is employed to reduce the contamination of a substrate processed in the processing chamber by performing a cleaning process on the inner surfaces of the processing chamber prior to depositing the one or more layers on a substrate. The cleaning process may include depositing a layer, such as a seasoning layer or passivation layer, that tends to trap contaminants found in the processing chamber. Other embodiments of the invention may provide scheduling and/or positioning the cleaning processing steps at desirable times within a substrate processing sequence to improve the overall system substrate throughput.
Loading the Abstract Image...
First Claim
Related Publications
Loading Related Publications...
International Classification(s)
- [Classification Symbol]
- [Patents Count]
Cited Art
| Patent Info | (Count) | # Cites | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| 5,252,142 Pin junction photovoltaic element having an I-type semiconductor layer with a plurality of regions having different graded band gaps | 47 | 1991 | |
| 5,927,994 Method for manufacturing thin film | 15 | 1997 | |
| 6,180,870 Photovoltaic device | 33 | 1997 | |
| 5,913,986 Photovoltaic element having a specific doped layer | 31 | 1997 | |
| 6,100,466 Method of forming microcrystalline silicon film, photovoltaic element, and method of producing same | 18 | 1998 | |
| 6,645,573 Process for forming a microcrystalline silicon series thin film and apparatus suitable for practicing said process | 7 | 1999 | |
| 2002/0033,191 Silicon-type thin-film formation process, silicon-type thin film, and photovoltaic device | 13 | 2001 | |
| 7,074,641 Method of forming silicon-based thin film, silicon-based thin film, and photovoltaic element | 12 | 2002 | |
| 6,700,057 Photovoltaic device | 16 | 2002 | |
| 2005/0189,012 Zinc oxide film, photovoltaic device making use of the same, and zinc oxide film formation process | 8 | 2003 | |
| 2004/0187,914 Stacked photovoltaic element and method for producing the same | 18 | 2004 | |
| 7,064,263 Stacked photovoltaic device | 15 | 2004 | |
|
|
|||
| 6,297,443 Thin film photoelectric transducer | 13 | 1999 | |
| 6,190,932 Method of manufacturing tandem type thin film photoelectric conversion device | 13 | 1999 | |
| 6,200,825 Method of manufacturing silicon based thin film photoelectric conversion device | 15 | 1999 | |
| 6,265,288 Method of manufacturing silicon-based thin-film photoelectric conversion device | 19 | 1999 | |
| 6,326,304 Method of manufacturing amorphous silicon based thin film photoelectric conversion device | 20 | 1999 | |
| 6,222,115 Photovoltaic module | 14 | 2000 | |
| 6,337,224 Method of producing silicon thin-film photoelectric transducer and plasma CVD apparatus used for the method | 26 | 2000 | |
| 6,566,159 Method of manufacturing tandem thin-film solar cell | 15 | 2001 | |
| 6,632,993 Photovoltaic module | 16 | 2001 | |
| 7,238,545 Method for fabricating tandem thin film photoelectric converter | 6 | 2003 | |
| 2008/0185,036 Substrate For Thin Film Photoelectric Conversion Device and Thin Film Photoelectric Conversion Device Including the Same | 5 | 2005 | |
|
|
|||
| 6,444,277 Method for depositing amorphous silicon thin films onto large area glass substrates by chemical vapor deposition at high deposition rates | 9 | 1994 | |
| 2005/0251,990 Plasma uniformity control by gas diffuser hole design | 41 | 2004 | |
| 2007/0039,942 Active cooling substrate support | 11 | 2005 | |
| 2008/0057,220 Silicon photovoltaic cell junction formed from thin film doping source | 10 | 2006 | |
| 2007/0298,590 METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DEPOSITING A MICROCRYSTALLINE SILICON FILM FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICE | 16 | 2006 | |
| 2008/0153,280 REACTIVE SPUTTER DEPOSITION OF A TRANSPARENT CONDUCTIVE FILM | 6 | 2006 | |
| 2008/0173,350 MULTI-JUNCTION SOLAR CELLS AND METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR FORMING THE SAME | 7 | 2007 | |
| 2008/0188,033 MULTI-JUNCTION SOLAR CELLS AND METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR FORMING THE SAME | 10 | 2007 | |
| 2008/0118,663 CONTAMINATION REDUCING LINER FOR INDUCTIVELY COUPLED CHAMBER | 2 | 2007 | |
| 2009/0020,154 MULTI-JUNCTION SOLAR CELLS AND METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR FORMING THE SAME | 4 | 2008 | |
|
|
|||
| 4,755,475 Method of manufacturing photovoltaic device | 30 | 1987 | |
| 4,776,894 Photovoltaic device | 20 | 1987 | |
| 5,419,783 Photovoltaic device and manufacturing method therefor | 16 | 1993 | |
| 5,700,467 Amorphous silicon carbide film and photovoltaic device using the same | 9 | 1996 | |
| 7,030,413 Photovoltaic device with intrinsic amorphous film at junction, having varied optical band gap through thickness thereof | 7 | 2001 | |
| 2005/0284,517 Photovoltaic cell, photovoltaic cell module, method of fabricating photovoltaic cell and method of repairing photovoltaic cell | 14 | 2005 | |
| 2006/0249,196 Stacked photovoltaic device | 7 | 2006 | |
| 2006/0283,496 Method for manufacturing photovoltaic module | 11 | 2006 | |
|
|
|||
| 5,738,732 Solar cell and manufacturing method thereof | 13 | 1996 | |
| 6,242,686 Photovoltaic device and process for producing the same | 51 | 1999 | |
| 6,459,034 Multi-junction solar cell | 9 | 2001 | |
| 6,750,394 Thin-film solar cell and its manufacturing method | 27 | 2002 | |
| 6,825,408 Stacked photoelectric conversion device | 15 | 2002 | |
| 2007/0151,596 Substrate for photoelectric conversion device, photoelectric conversion device, and stacked photoelectric conversion device | 69 | 2005 | |
|
|
|||
| 6,380,480 Photoelectric conversion device and substrate for photoelectric conversion device | 31 | 2000 | |
| 6,602,606 Glass sheet with conductive film, method of manufacturing the same, and photoelectric conversion device using the same | 18 | 2000 | |
| 6,395,973 Photovoltaic device | 7 | 2001 | |
| 7,332,226 Transparent conductive film and its manufacturing method, and photoelectric conversion device comprising it | 7 | 2001 | |
|
|
|||
| 5,730,808 Producing solar cells by surface preparation for accelerated nucleation of microcrystalline silicon on heterogeneous substrates | 28 | 1996 | |
| 6,121,541 Monolithic multi-junction solar cells with amorphous silicon and CIS and their alloys | 56 | 1997 | |
| 6,288,325 Producing thin film photovoltaic modules with high integrity interconnects and dual layer contacts | 72 | 2000 | |
|
|
|||
| 4,388,482 High-voltage photovoltaic cell having a heterojunction of amorphous semiconductor and amorphous silicon | 33 | 1981 | |
| 4,476,346 Photovoltaic device | 24 | 1983 | |
| 5,032,884 Semiconductor pin device with interlayer or dopant gradient | 22 | 1990 | |
|
|
|||
| 4,737,196 Amorphous solar cell | 13 | 1986 | |
| 4,728,370 Amorphous photovoltaic elements | 25 | 1986 | |
| 5,114,498 Photovoltaic device | 15 | 1990 | |
|
|
|||
| 2007/0227,579 Assemblies of cylindrical solar units with internal spacing | 7 | 2006 | |
| 2008/0047,599 Monolithic integration of nonplanar solar cells | 11 | 2007 | |
| 2008/0110,491 Monolithic integration of non-planar solar cells | 40 | 2007 | |
|
|
|||
| 4,471,155 Narrow band gap photovoltaic devices with enhanced open circuit voltage | 70 | 1983 | |
| 4,891,330 Method of fabricating n-type and p-type microcrystalline semiconductor alloy material including band gap widening elements | 230 | 1988 | |
| 5,977,476 High efficiency photovoltaic device | 102 | 1996 | |
|
|
|||
| 7,309,832 Multi-junction solar cell device | 7 | 2001 | |
| 2007/0137,698 Monolithic photovoltaic energy conversion device | 9 | 2002 | |
|
|
|||
| 5,797,998 Multiple layer thin film solar cells with buried contacts | 23 | 1996 | |
| 5,942,050 Method of manufacturing a multilayer solar cell | 39 | 1997 | |
|
|
|||
| 6,307,146 Amorphous silicon solar cell | 9 | 1999 | |
| 2008/0196,761 Photovoltaic device and process for producing same | 7 | 2007 | |
|
|
|||
| 5,256,887 Photovoltaic device including a boron doping profile in an i-type layer | 19 | 1991 | |
|
|
|||
| 7,071,018 Process for manufacturing a solar cell | 16 | 2002 | |
|
|
|||
| 2003/0044,539 Process for producing photovoltaic devices | 38 | 2002 | |
|
|
|||
| 5,738,731 Photovoltaic device | 94 | 1994 | |
|
|
|||
| 6,777,610 Protective sheet for solar battery module, method of fabricating the same and solar battery module | 21 | 2002 | |
|
|
|||
| 4,878,097 Semiconductor photoelectric conversion device and method for making same | 15 | 1988 | |
|
|
|||
| 2004/0231,590 Deposition apparatus for the formation of polycrystalline materials on mobile substrates | 21 | 2003 | |
|
|
|||
| 7,375,378 Surface passivated photovoltaic devices | 12 | 2005 | |
|
|
|||
| 4,490,573 Solar cells | 12 | 1981 | |
|
|
|||
| 2008/0047,603 Front contact with intermediate layer(s) adjacent thereto for use in photovoltaic device and method of making same | 14 | 2006 | |
|
|
|||
| 2008/0156,370 Heterocontact Solar Cell with Inverted Geometry of its Layer Structure | 6 | 2006 | |
|
|
|||
| 6,825,104 Semiconductor device with selectively diffused regions | 32 | 2003 | |
|
|
|||
| 2005/0115,504 Method and apparatus for forming thin films, method for manufacturing solar cell, and solar cell | 8 | 2003 | |
|
|
|||
| 7,402,747 Photoelectric conversion device and method of manufacturing the device | 5 | 2004 | |
|
|
|||
| 6,989,553 Semiconductor device having an active region of alternating layers | 12 | 2003 | |
|
|
|||
| 4,841,908 Multi-chamber deposition system | 26 | 1988 | |
|
|
|||
| 5,021,100 Tandem solar cell | 15 | 1989 | |
|
|
|||
| 5,677,236 Process for forming a thin microcrystalline silicon semiconductor film | 62 | 1996 | |
|
|
|||
| 2007/0249,898 Endoscope | 7 | 2006 | |
|
|
|||
| 7,235,810 Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same | 52 | 1999 | |
|
|
|||
| 2008/0160,661 Method and structure for fabricating solar cells using a layer transfer process | 30 | 2007 | |
|
|
|||
| 2006/0038,182 Stretchable semiconductor elements and stretchable electrical circuits | 80 | 2005 | |
|
|
|||
| 7,351,993 Rare earth-oxides, rare earth-nitrides, rare earth-phosphides and ternary alloys with silicon | 18 | 2004 | |
|
|
|||
| 7,256,140 Higher selectivity, method for passivating short circuit current paths in semiconductor devices | 6 | 2005 | |
|
|
|||
| 5,589,008 Photovoltaic cell and method for fabrication of said cell | 19 | 1995 | |
|
|
|||
| 6,309,906 Photovoltaic cell and method of producing that cell | 17 | 1998 | |
|
|
|||
| 4,377,723 High efficiency thin-film multiple-gap photovoltaic device | 35 | 1980 | |
|
|
|||
| 4,400,577 Thin solar cells | 54 | 1981 | |
| 2007/0281,090 SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE AND METHOD FOR SOLAR PANEL FORMATION | 7 | 2007 | |
Patent Citation Ranking
Maintenance Fees
| Fee | Large entity fee | small entity fee | micro entity fee | due date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Year Payment | $1600.00 | $800.00 | $400.00 | Jul 25, 2014 |
| 7.5 Year Payment | $3600.00 | $1800.00 | $900.00 | Jul 25, 2018 |
| 11.5 Year Payment | $7400.00 | $3700.00 | $1850.00 | Jul 25, 2022 |
| Fee | Large entity fee | small entity fee | micro entity fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surcharge - 3.5 year - Late payment within 6 months | $160.00 | $80.00 | $40.00 |
| Surcharge - 7.5 year - Late payment within 6 months | $160.00 | $80.00 | $40.00 |
| Surcharge - 11.5 year - Late payment within 6 months | $160.00 | $80.00 | $40.00 |
| Surcharge after expiration - Late payment is unavoidable | $700.00 | $350.00 | $175.00 |
| Surcharge after expiration - Late payment is unintentional | $1,640.00 | $820.00 | $410.00 |