Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals, Incorporated

Yoshinori Ashida

Nobuhiro Fukuda

Kenji Miyachi

Masato Koyama

Shin Fukuda

Masataka Hirose

Kazuyoshi Isogaya

Mitsuru Sadamoto

Nobuhisa Kitagawa

Kimihiko Saitoh

Nobuyuki Ishiguro

A thin microcrystalline silicon semiconductor film suitable for use as an intrinsic semiconductor layer in an amorphous silicon solar cell or the like. The thin microcrystalline silicon semiconductor film comprises an amorphous phase with crystallites contained therein in the form of a prismatic or conical crystallite aggregate phase. Additional crystallites may be dispersed as individual crystallites in the amorphous phase. In the thin film, the crystalline fraction may preferably range from 5 to 80% and the crystallite size may preferably range from 2 to 1,000 nm. This thin film can be formed by first forming an initial film to a thickness in a range of from 2 nm to 100 nm at a deposition rate of from 0.01 nm/sec to 0.1 nm/sec on a substrate and then forming a principal film at a deposition rate of from 0.1 nm/sec to 2 nm/sec, for example, in accordance with RF plasma CVD.

Process for forming a thin microcrystalline silicon semiconductor film

A method for preparing an amorphous silicon solar cell is disclosed which comprises forming on a substrate, in the following order, a first electrode, a first conductive film, a thin first substantially intrinsic film, a thicker second substantially intrinsic film, a second conductive film and a second electrode.

Amorphous silicon solar cell and method for manufacturing the same

A method for forming an amorphous semiconductor film, which comprises (a) a film-forming step of forming a semiconductor film having not more than 20 atomic percent of bound hydrogen to a thickness of 3 to 1000 .ANG., and (b) a modifying step of modifying the formed film, the steps being repeated multiple times.

Semiconductor film and process for its production

Formation process of amorphous silicon film

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Yoshinori Ashida