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. 07, 1988
Filed:
Nov. 17, 1986
Rajeewa R Arya, Doylestown, PA (US);
Robert S Oswald, Newtown, PA (US);
Solarex Corporation, Rockville, MD (US);
Abstract
A method of removing electrical shorts and shunts from a thin-film semiconductor device having pairs of electrodes with exposed contact surfaces wherein each pair of electrodes is separated by a semiconductor film. The disclosed method comprises the steps of coating the exposed contact surfaces with an ionic solution and successively applying a reverse-bias voltage between the exposed contact surfaces of each pair of electrodes. The ionic solution has an etching rate that increases with increased temperature so that the leakage current flowing through shorts and shunts located between each respective pair of electrodes in response to the reverse-bias voltage will create a local temperature increase at the shorts and shunts and selectively etch or oxidize the shorts and shunts, rendering them substantially nonconductive. The exposed contact surfaces can be coated using a sponge applicator or spray apparatus. The preferred ionic solution comprises an acid mixture diluted to one part in at least five parts water.