The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 17, 2025
Filed:
Sep. 23, 2019
First Solar, Inc., Tempe, AZ (US);
Paulina Bourgeois, Perrysburg, OH (US);
Robert Clark-Phelps, Perrysburg, OH (US);
Qi Fang, Perrysburg, OH (US);
Jing Guo, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Gopal Mor, Perrysburg, OH (US);
Rui Shao, Sylvania, OH (US);
First Solar, Inc., Tempe, AZ (US);
Abstract
According to the embodiments provided herein, a method for sputtering a TCO material onto a substrate includes process conditions that produce a textured topography at the interfaces of various layers. The textured topography can include an average roughness from about 5 to about 40 nm. The process conditions can include providing oxygen in the sputtering environment at a flow rate of from 0 to about 30 sccm; or heating the substrate to at least 200; or increasing the magnetic field strength to above 40 mT. The textured topography creates interfacial transition areas which have hybrid physical properties compared to their constituent materials.