High performance ultra-thin solar cell structures
| DWPI Title: Method for manufacturing solar cells, involves separating individual device cells from handle wafer by removing release layer from handle wafer after adding n-type and p-type dopants, forming trenches and applying dopant |
| Abstract: A method, system and apparatus including a device cell having a top side, a bottom side and opposing side walls. A passivation layer is formed along the top side, the bottom side and opposing side walls of the device cell. The passivation layer serves to passivate the device cell and facilitate carrier collection around the device cell. An anti-reflective layer is formed over the passivation layer and an optical layer is formed on the top side of the device cell. The optical layer reflects light within the device cell. The apparatus may further include a reflective layer formed along the bottom side of the device cell, the reflective layer to reflect light internally within the device cell. |
| Use: Method for manufacturing solar cells. |
| Advantage: The method enables utilizing a nitride layer to provide hermeticity to the cell, to prevent diffusion of impurities into an active device, thus improving reliability and lifetime of the device and the resulting system. |
| Novelty: The method involves applying a dopant to a bottom side and sidewalls of each of an individual device cells to form a lightly doped surface field passivation layer around each of the individual device cells while the device layer is bonded to a handle wafer. An anti-reflective layer is formed over the lightly doped surface field passivation layer of each of the individual device cells while the device layer is bonded to the handle wafer. A reflective layer effective is formed for reflecting the incident light internally within the device cells while the device layer is bonded to the handle wafer. The individual device cells are separated from the handle wafer by removing the release layer from the handle wafer. |
| Filed: 5/11/2015 |
| Application Number: US14709284A |
| Tech ID: SD 12083.1 |
| This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 awarded by the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. The Government has certain rights in the invention. |
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