Rapid process for producing a chalcopyrite semiconductor on a substrate
First Claim
1. A process for producing a chalcopyrite semiconductor of the type ABC2, where A is copper, B is indium or gallium, and C is sulfur or selenium, on a substrate, comprising the steps of:
- producing a layer structure on the substrate by applying the components A, B, and C in elemental form and/or as a binary interelemental compound B2 C3, the component C being present in an excess which forms up to twice a stoichiometrically exact proportion of component;
rapidly heating the substrate with the layer structure to a processing temperature, which is greater than or equal to 350°
C., at a heating rate of at least 10°
C./s; and
keeping the substrate at the processing temperature for a time interval dt in the range of 10 seconds to 1 hour to perform annealing;
providing an encapsulation as a covering above the layer structure at a spacing of less than 5 mm, which encapsulation maintains, throughout the entire annealing process, a partial pressure for the component C which is above the partial pressure of the component C which would develop above a stoichiometrically exact ABC2 semiconductor.
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Abstract
To produce a polycrystalline, single-phase compound semiconductor layer of the chalcopyrite type ABC2, it is proposed to deposit, on a substrate, a layer structure which comprises a plurality of layers and which contains the components in elemental form, as an interelemental compound or as an alloy, the component C being present in stoichiometric excess. In a rapid annealing process with a heating rate of at least 10° C./s to a processing temperature of at least 350° C., the layer structure is converted into the compound semiconductor ABC2 even after a few seconds, the gas exchange being limited by encapsulation of the layer structure, with the result that an evaporation of the most volatile components is prevented. Highly efficient solar cells can be produced from the semiconductor.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A process for producing a chalcopyrite semiconductor of the type ABC2, where A is copper, B is indium or gallium, and C is sulfur or selenium, on a substrate, comprising the steps of:
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producing a layer structure on the substrate by applying the components A, B, and C in elemental form and/or as a binary interelemental compound B2 C3, the component C being present in an excess which forms up to twice a stoichiometrically exact proportion of component; rapidly heating the substrate with the layer structure to a processing temperature, which is greater than or equal to 350°
C., at a heating rate of at least 10°
C./s; andkeeping the substrate at the processing temperature for a time interval dt in the range of 10 seconds to 1 hour to perform annealing; providing an encapsulation as a covering above the layer structure at a spacing of less than 5 mm, which encapsulation maintains, throughout the entire annealing process, a partial pressure for the component C which is above the partial pressure of the component C which would develop above a stoichiometrically exact ABC2 semiconductor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification
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- Resources
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Current AssigneeSaint-Gobain Glass France (Compagnie De Saint-Gobain)
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Original AssigneeSiemens AG
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InventorsKarg, Franz, Probst, Volker
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Primary Examiner(s)Weisstuch, Aaron
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Application NumberUS08/403,921Time in Patent Office567 DaysField of Search437/5, 437/234, 427/76, 136/264-265US Class Current438/95CPC Class CodesH01L 21/02422 Non-crystalline insulating ...H01L 21/02491 Conductive materialsH01L 21/02568 Chalcogenide semiconducting...H01L 21/02614 Transformation of metal, e....H01L 31/0322 comprising only AIBIIICVI c...H01L 31/0749 including a AIBIIICVI compo...H01L 31/1864 AnnealingY02E 10/541 CuInSe2 material PV cellsY02P 70/50 Manufacturing or production...Y10S 438/971 Stoichiometric control of h...
