Photovoltaic Devices and Methods:
Fabrication, Deposition, Mass Production (Patent Family)

IP Status: Photovoltaic Devices and Methods Family of Patents

Short Overview of Technologies

13-027

This innovation is intended to be used in a thin film deposition system requiring multiple fabrication steps under a continuous vacuum. In such a system, a substrate will be transported through several stations, each station performing a unique fabrication step on the substrate. For steps in which a thin film of material will be deposited using thermal methods, there is a need to seal the deposition chamber from the rest of the system under vacuum. This technology provides a method and apparatus to movably seal the deposition chamber.

• System for movably sealing a deposition chamber within a larger system under vacuum
• Compensates for the gap between substrate transport and deposition source
• Reduces leakage of material from deposition chamber to other surfaces within vacuum system
• Decreases cleaning costs and minimizes system downtime for cleaning

13-026

This innovation is a high throughput thin film device manufacturing process that produces stable, high efficiency devices and, at the same time, limits environmental and occupational exposure to toxic compounds. The technology consists of a comprehensive apparatus and system for large scale inline manufacturing of CdTe photovoltaic modules in which all steps are performed within a single vacuum boundary at modest vacuum pressures.

• Comprehensive, high throughput manufacturing system for thin film devices
• All steps conducted under/within one vacuum boundary
• Result is improved throughput rate, film quality, device efficiency, device stability, and device cost
• Minimizes toxic waste production and limits worker exposure to hazardous compounds
• Optimized for CdTe photovoltaic devices but applicable to variety of thin film devices

13-025

This technology pertains to an apparatus and method for rapidly cooling a large substrate in a vacuum environment. While normal radiative cooling in a vacuum would require a number of hours to cool a substrate from 200 °C to 25 °C, this technology can perform this temperature reduction in 2-4 minutes. Such a dramatic reduction in time can reduce total device fabrication time, increase throughput rate and increase overall manufacturing capacity.

• Reduces cooling time of a substrate in vacuum from hours to just a few minutes
• Decreases device fabrication time
• Increases throughput rate and overall manufacturing capacity

12-046

This innovation is a process and hardware by which deposition of large-area alloy thin films is possible with varied material properties throughout the thickness. The hardware is a close-space sublimation (CSS) sources with an added valve-controlled and thermally independent vapor feed. For example, the added vapor feed could be another sublimation source that is valved by a mechanical shutter. The added vapor feed allows alloying and/or doping of the grown film during deposition and can be adjusted continuously during the deposition to form graded films.

• Thin film deposition of complex alloys onto large area substrates
• Scalable, fast, and able to deposit alloyed films of graded composition over the film thickness
• Reduces production costs and increases design flexibility of thin film devices
• Useful for advanced photovoltaic modules and for many other thin film technologies

07-075

This technology pertains to an apparatus and method for rapidly cooling a large substrate in a vacuum environment. While normal radiative cooling in a vacuum would require a number of hours to cool a substrate from 200 °C to 25 °C, this technology can perform this temperature reduction in 2-4 minutes. Such a dramatic reduction in time can reduce total device fabrication time, increase throughput rate and increase overall manufacturing capacity.

• Apparatus and method for rapidly cooling a large substrate in a vacuum environment
• Can perform temperature reduction from 200 °C to 25 °C in 2- 4 minutes
• Reduces total device fabrication time while increasing throughput rate and overall manufacturing capacity

Please contact CSU Ventures for more detailed information about the technologies within this Family.