Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Tadashi Hori

Masahiro Kanai

Shotaro Okabe

Akira Sakai

Yasushi Fujioka

Takahiro Yajima

Yuzo Kohda

Koichiro Moriyama

Hiroyuki Ozaki

Yuzo Koda

Hiroshi Shimoda

Takehito Yoshino

Hirokazu Ohtoshi

Tomonori Nishimoto

Tadashi Sawayama

Naoto Okada

Masafumi Sano

Ryo Hayashi

Hideo Tamura

Yasuyoshi Takai

Koichi Matsuda

Jinsho Matsuyama

Hidetoshi Tsuzuki

Takaharu Kondo

Atsushi Yasuno

Takeshi Shishido

A chemical-reaction inducing means is provided in an exhaust line connecting a processing space for subjecting a substrate or a film to plasma processing to an exhaust means, and at least either an unreacted gas or byproduct exhausted from the processing space are caused to chemically react without allowing plasma in the processing space to reach the chemical-reaction inducing means, thereby improving the processing ability of the chemical-reaction inducing means to process the unreacted gas or byproduct.

Exhaust processing method, plasma processing method and plasma processing apparatus

To provide an apparatus for forming a deposited film, which is a parallel plate electrode type CVD apparatus, with a discharge vessel receiving a material gas flowing therein and discharging air therefrom, decomposing the material gas by the aid of a plasma generated therein, and depositing the film on the substrate, in which the exhaust port of the material gas exhaust means has an opening wider in the lateral direction than the parallel plate electrode. This structure diminishes the stagnant region of the material gas during the deposited film forming process and controls formation of by-products, to deposit the film uniform in quality and thickness.

Apparatus for forming deposited film

A vacuum-processing apparatus comprising a vacuum vessel, a processing chamber arranged in the vacuum vessel and a heater for heating a circumferential wall of the processing chamber, wherein a substrate is arranged in the processing chamber and the substrate is vacuum-processed in the processing chamber, characterized in that the vacuum-processing apparatus has a cooling plate located outside the processing chamber and arranged at a position to oppose the circumferential wall of the processing chamber for cooling the circumferential wall of the processing chamber, and a mechanism for moving the cooling plate so as to change a distance between the cooling plate and the circumferential wall of the processing chamber. A vacuum-processing method for performing a surface treatment for a substrate using the vacuum-processing apparatus.

Vacuum-processing method using a movable cooling plate during processing

A substrate-processing method includes at least (a) a step of delivering a web substrate and an interleaf from a substrate delivery bobbin provided in a substrate delivery chamber while the web substrate is transported into a substrate-processing chamber and the interleaf delivered is wound on an interleaf takeup bobbin, and (b) a step of subjecting the web substrate transported into the substrate-processing chamber to desired processing in the substrate-processing chamber. The web substrate processed in the substrate-processing chamber is transported outside the substrate-processing chamber, and transport abnormality of the interleaf in the substrate delivery chamber is detected by a transport abnormality-detecting mechanism.

Apparatus and method for processing a substrate

For efficiently forming a semiconductor element with excellent adhesion and environment resistance, a semiconductor element forming method is configured to have a step of forming a plurality of pin junctions of a silicon-based material on a substrate by a high-frequency plasma CVD process under a pressure of not more than atmospheric pressure, and the method further has a step of forming a p-layer, an i-layer, and a portion of an n-layer of a first pin junction of the pin junctions or forming an n-layer, an i-layer, and a portion of a p-layer of a first pin junction of the pin junctions, and thereafter exposing the p-layer or the n-layer exposed in the surface, to an oxygen-containing atmosphere; a step of forming on the p-layer or the n-layer as exposed to the oxygen-containing atmosphere a layer of the same conductivity type as that of the p-layer or the n-layer; and a step of forming an n-layer or a p-layer of a second pin junction adjacent to the first pin junction to form a pn interface.

Methods of forming semiconductor element, and semiconductor elements

A substrate-processing apparatus includes a substrate delivery chamber, a substrate-processing chamber and a substrate takeup chamber, wherein in the substrate delivery chamber, a web substrate and an interleaf are delivered from a delivery bobbin including the web substrate and the interleaf alternately wound while the web substrate delivered is transported into the substrate-processing chamber to process the web substrate therein and the interleaf delivered is wound on an interleaf takeup bobbin. In the substrate takeup chamber, the web substrate transported from the substrate-processing chamber and an interleaf delivered from an interleaf delivery bobbin are alternately wound in a roll form on a substrate takeup bobbin. The substrate-processing apparatus is provided with a mechanism for detecting transport abnormality of the interleaf either in the substrate delivery chamber or in the substrate takeup chamber.

A vacuum-processing apparatus comprising a vacuum vessel, a processing chamber arranged in the vacuum vessel and a heater for heating a circumferential wall of the processing chamber, wherein a substrate is arranged in the processing chamber and the substrate is vacuum-processed in the processing chamber, characterized in that the vacuum-processing apparatus has a cooling plate arranged at a position to oppose the circumferential wall of the processing chamber for cooling the circumferential wall of the processing chamber, and a mechanism for moving the cooling plate so as to change a distance between the cooling plate and the circumferential wall of the processing chamber.

Vacuum-processing apparatus using a movable cooling plate during processing

Deposition apparatus for manufacturing thin film

Process for producing photovoltaic device

A film-forming apparatus which has at least a vacuum vessel whose inside is capable of being vacuumed and a film-forming chamber having a discharge region provided in said vacuum vessel and in which a substrate web having a desired width and a desired length is arranged so as to constitute a part of said film-forming chamber, wherein said substrate web is continuously moved to pass through said discharge region of said film-forming chamber to continuously form a deposited film on said substrate web, characterized in that said film-forming chamber is provided with an opening-adjusting member such that said opening-adjusting member constitutes an entrance or/and an exit of said film-forming chamber, and a face of said opening-adjusting member which is opposed to said substrate web has one or more grooves formed substantially in parallel to a direction for said substrate web to be transported.

Film-forming apparatus for forming a deposited film on a substrate, and vacuum-processing apparatus and method for vacuum-processing an object

A method for forming a non-single-crystal semiconductor thin film and a photovoltaic device using an apparatus, which has a film deposition chamber with a film-forming space surrounded by a film deposition chamber wall and a belt-like substrate. An external chamber surrounding the deposition chamber wall is provided in the apparatus. While the belt-like substrate is moved in a longitudinal direction, a film-forming gas is introduced through a gas supply device into the film-forming space and microwave energy is radiated from a microwave applicator into the film-forming space to induce a microwave plasma, and thereby form a non-single-crystal semiconductor thin film on a surface of the belt-like substrate. A cooling mechanism and a temperature-increasing mechanism covering a part of an outside surface of the deposition chamber wall provide temperature control.

Method for forming non-single-crystal semiconductor thin film, and method for producing photovoltaic device

The photovoltaic element of the present invention is a photovoltaic element comprised of a semiconductor-junctioned element, characterized in that the element includes a first electrically conductive type semiconductor layer, a non-crystalline i type semiconductor layer, a microcrystalline i type semiconductor layer and a microcrystalline second electrically conductive type semiconductor layer and is pin-junctioned, and a method of and an apparatus for manufacturing the same are characterized by efficiently and continuously mass-producing the photovoltaic element having an excellent current-voltage characteristic and excellent photoelectric conversion efficiency. Thereby, there are provided a photovoltaic element in which the junction interface between the non-crystalline i type layer and the microcrystalline electrically conductive type layer has good grating consistency and which has an excellent current-voltage characteristic and excellent photoelectric conversion efficiency, and a method of and an apparatus for continuously mass-producing the same.

Method of manufacturing photovoltaic element and apparatus therefor

A process is provided for producing a photovoltaic element which has at least one pin junction, and a buffering semiconductor layer constituted of plural sublayers between an n-type layer and an i-type layer and/or between an i-type layer and a p-type layer, through production steps of introducing a source material gas into an electric discharge space in a reaction chamber, and decomposing the source material gas by plasma discharge to form a non-monocrystalline semiconductor layer. In the process, in electric discharge generation for formation of at least one of the sublayers, the polarity of the electrode confronting the substrate for formation of a first sublayer and the polarity of the electrode confronting the substrate for formation of a second sublayer adjacent to the first sublayer is made different from each other, or the potential of one of the electrodes is set at zero volt. Thereby, diffusion of the dopant from the p-type layer or the n-type layer into the i-type layer is prevented effectively. The produced photovoltaic element is improved in the output properties, the open-circuit voltage, and the fill factor, and these properties deteriorate less.

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Nara, Japan

Tadashi Hori