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:
Dec. 10, 2013
Filed:
Sep. 05, 2012
John M. Cotte, New Fairfield, CT (US);
Laura L. Kosbar, Mohegan Lake, NY (US);
Deborah A. Neumayer, Danbury, CT (US);
Xiaoyan Shao, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);
John M. Cotte, New Fairfield, CT (US);
Laura L. Kosbar, Mohegan Lake, NY (US);
Deborah A. Neumayer, Danbury, CT (US);
Xiaoyan Shao, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A method to determine the cleanness of a semiconductor substrate and the quantity/density of pin holes that may exist within a patterned antireflective coating (ARC) is provided. Electroplating is employed to monitor the changes in the porosity of the ARC caused by the pin holes during solar cell manufacturing. In particular, electroplating a metal or metal alloy to form a metallic grid on an exposed front side surface of a substrate also fills the pin holes. The quantity/density of metallic filled pin holes (and hence the number of pin holes) in the patterned ARC can then be determined.