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. 03, 1997
Filed:
Apr. 27, 1995
Masafumi Sano, Souraku-gun, JP;
Keishi Saitoh, Nara, JP;
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A method of producing a semiconductor device including a substrate and a semiconductor region, the semiconductor region including at least one pin structure in the form of a multi-layer structure consisting of a non-single crystal n-type (or p-type) layer containing silicon, a non-single crystal i-type layer containing silicon, and a non-single crystal p-type (or n-type) layer containing silicon, the method being characterized in that it includes a step of performing plasma treatment on the surface of the substrate or the surface of one semiconductor layer, wherein the plasma treatment is performed in an atmosphere including a hydrogen gas and another gas containing silicon atoms without or with very thin deposition of a film onto the surface. In this method, the hydrogen gas ambient is excited into a stable plasma state, and impurities adsorbed on the surface of the chamber wall or contained in the chamber wall are prevented from being incorporated into the semiconductor layers thereby achieving a high performance photovoltaic semiconductor device.