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:
Mar. 12, 2013
Filed:
Oct. 02, 2009
Hiroomi Miyahara, Nagasaki, JP;
Kengo Yamaguchi, Nagasaki, JP;
Hiroomi Miyahara, Nagasaki, JP;
Kengo Yamaguchi, Nagasaki, JP;
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A process for producing a high-performance photovoltaic device by depositing a high-quality crystalline silicon layer, and a deposition apparatus for depositing the high-quality crystalline silicon layer. A process for producing a photovoltaic device that comprises forming a crystalline silicon-based photovoltaic layer comprising an i-layer on a substrate using a plasma-enhanced CVD method, wherein formation of the i-layer comprises an initial layer deposition stage and a bulk i-layer deposition stage, and the initial layer deposition stage comprises depositing the initial layer using a silane-based gas flow rate during the initial layer deposition stage that is lower than the silane-based gas flow rate during the bulk i-layer deposition stage, with the deposition time for the initial layer deposition stage set to not less than 0.5% and not more than 20% of the total deposition time for the i-layer, and with the SiH* emission intensity during the initial layer deposition stage not, more than 80% of the stabilized SiH* emission intensity during the bulk i-layer deposition stage.