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:
Sep. 18, 2012
Filed:
Aug. 02, 2011
Michael P. Stewart, San Francisco, CA (US);
Lisong Zhou, Fremont, CA (US);
Jen Shu, Saratoga, CA (US);
LI (Sherry) Xu, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Michael P. Stewart, San Francisco, CA (US);
Lisong Zhou, Fremont, CA (US);
Jen Shu, Saratoga, CA (US);
Li (Sherry) Xu, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention generally provides a method of forming a high efficiency solar cell device by preparing a surface and/or forming at least a part of a high quality passivation layer on a silicon containing substrate. Embodiments of the present invention may be especially useful for preparing a surface of a p-type doped region formed on a silicon substrate so that a high quality passivation layer can be formed thereon. In one embodiment, the methods include exposing a surface of the solar cell substrate to a plasma to clean and modify the physical, chemical and/or electrical characteristics of the surface.