Other

Nippon Sheet Glass Company, Limited

Tsuyoshi Otani

Masahiro Hirata

Akira Fujisawa

Yukio Sueyoshi

Akihiko Hattori

Yasunori Seto

Hodaka Norimatsu

Yuko Tawada

Toru Yamamoto

Koichiro Kiyohara

Kiyotaka Ichiki

The present invention provides a method of forming a thin film containing a metal oxide as the main component, the film thickness of which is relatively uniform, at a high film deposition rate over a wide area and over a long time. The present invention is a method for forming a thin film containing a metal oxide as the main component on a substrate using a mixed gas stream containing a metal chloride, an oxidizing material, and hydrogen chloride, by a thermal decomposition method at a film deposition rate of 4500 nm/min. or greater, performing at least one selected from: 1) prior to mixing the metal chloride and the oxidizing material in the mixed gas stream, contacting hydrogen chloride with at least one selected from the metal chloride and the oxidizing material, and 2) forming a buffer layer in advance on a surface of the substrate on which the thin film containing a metal oxide as the main component is to be formed.

Method for forming thin film, substrate having thin film formed by the method, and photoelectric conversion device using the substrate

The present invention provides a method for forming a transparent thin film by a chemical vapor deposition method using a gaseous raw material. In the method, a film growth rate is at least 8 nm/s, and the transparent thin film contains at least one selected from carbon (C) and oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), hydrogen (H), and silicon (Si). According to this method, a transparent thin film that does not peel off a substrate easily due to the eased tension in the thin film and has high transmittance in the visible light region can be deposited on a glass ribbon in a float bath.

Method for forming transparent thin film, transparent thin film formed by the method, and transparent substrate with transparent thin film

The present invention provides a photoelectric conversion device that improves photoelectric conversion efficiency with the interaction between a transparent substrate with a transparent conductive film, an antireflection film, and a photoelectric conversion unit. The antireflection film contains fine particles having an average particle diameter of 0.01 to 1.0 &mgr;m and has an uneven surface derived from the fine particles. The glass sheet with a transparent conductive film has a light transmittance of 75% or more in the wavelength region of 800 nm to 900 nm. The photoelectric conversion unit includes at least a photoelectric conversion unit including a photoelectric conversion layer having a band gap of 1.85 eV or less.

Photoelectric conversion device

On a glass sheet, an undercoating layer and a conductive film containing tin oxide as a main component are formed suitably in this order. On the conductive film, a photoelectric conversion unit and a back electrode are formed, thus obtaining a thin film photoelectric conversion device. In the present invention, the absorption coefficient of this conductive film is decreased up to 1.2&times;10 cm or less. In another embodiment of the present invention, the chlorine concentration in a conductive film is set to be 0.11 wt. % or lower and the fluorine concentration in the conductive film is equal to or higher than the chlorine concentration. In still another embodiment, in a wavelength of 550 nm, a conductive film is formed so that a glass sheet with a conductive film has a transmittance of at least 79% and a haze ratio of at least 4%.

Glass sheet with conductive film, method of manufacturing the same, and photoelectric conversion device using the same

When a transparent conductive film formed on a glass sheet is heat-treated in the air, its conductivity decreases. Even if the conductivity is increased by a heat treatment in a nitrogen atmosphere or the like beforehand, it decreases considerably by heating in the air during a processing step to obtain a final product. The present invention provides a glass sheet with a transparent conductive film, in which the increasing rate of its sheet resistance is 15% or lower even after heating at 450&deg; C. in the air for three hours.

Glass sheet with conductive film and glass article using the same

A substrate for a photoelectric conversion device that is effective in trapping light in a photovoltaic layer and can be manufactured by industrial mass-production, a method of manufacturing the same, and a photoelectric conversion device using the same. On a glass sheet containing an alkaline component, a first undercoating film containing tin oxide as a main component, a second undercoating film, and a conductive film containing tin oxide as a main component are formed in this order, thus obtaining a substrate. The first undercoating film is formed by a thermal decomposition oxidation reaction of coating-film forming materials containing chlorine on glass with a temperature of at least 600&deg; C. In the first undercoating film, holes are formed without an after-treatment. The surface of the conductive film above the holes has larger irregularities, thus scattering incident light on a photovoltaic unit. Further, on the photovoltaic unit, a back electrode is formed, thus obtaining a photoelectric conversion device.

Substrate for photoelectric conversion device, method of manufacturing the same, and photoelectric conversion device using the same

On a glass sheet, undercoating layers and a transparent conductive film containing tin oxide as the main component are formed in this order. The surface of the transparent conductive film is provided with roughness including convex portions and concave portions. The convex portions have a mean diameter in a range between 0.05 &mgr;m and 0.3 &mgr;m and include five convex portions or less with diameters of at least 0.5 &mgr;m per 100 &mgr;m of the surface. On the transparent conductive film, a photovoltaic unit and a back electrode are formed, thus obtaining a photoelectric conversion device.

Substrate for photoelectric conversion device, and photoelectric conversion device using the same

A transparent layered product in which the ratio of a refractive-index transition layer at the surface of a coating film is set to be a suitable ratio for increasing light transmittance is provided. In a coating film with a rough surface formed on a glass sheet, the thickness of a transition layer in which the refractive index varies continuously in its thickness direction is set to be in a range between 13% and 65% of the thickness of a layer having a substantially constant refractive index in the coating film.

Transparent layered product and glass article using the same

A transparent substrate, a transparent conductive film, photoelectric conversion units, and a back electrode are stacked sequentially from a side on which light is incident. Further, intermediate films are formed between the transparent substrate and the transparent conductive film. The intermediate films are formed so that the relationship of R <R &times;0.8 is satisfied, wherein R represents an average reflectance in a wavelength region between (&lgr;&minus;50) nm and (&lgr;&plus;50) nm, where &lgr; (nm) represents a wavelength of the light allowing the photoelectric conversion units to have an optimal spectral sensitivity characteristic, and R denotes an average reflectance, in the wavelength region, of the photoelectric conversion device that does not include the intermediate film. In a tandem-type device including plural photoelectric conversion units, intermediate films are formed so that the average reflectance in the wavelength range is decreased in each photoelectric conversion unit. Thus, the conversion efficiency of the photoelectric conversion device is improved.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Tsuyoshi Otani