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:
Aug. 25, 2015
Filed:
Oct. 22, 2012
Applicant:
Dow Global Technologies Llc, Midland, MI (US);
Inventors:
Melissa A. Mushrush, Midland, MI (US);
Todd R. Bryden, Dusseldorf, DE;
Kevin P. Capaldo, Midland, MI (US);
Scott A. Sprague, Midland, MI (US);
Assignee:
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 31/18 (2006.01); H01L 31/0749 (2012.01); H01L 31/032 (2006.01); H01L 31/0224 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 31/1828 (2013.01); H01L 31/022441 (2013.01); H01L 31/022475 (2013.01); H01L 31/0322 (2013.01); H01L 31/0749 (2013.01); Y02E 10/541 (2013.01);
Abstract
The invention is a method of forming a cadmium sulfide based buffer on a copper chalcogenide based absorber in making a photovoltaic cell. The buffer is sputtered in two steps the first being at low rates or relatively high pressures and the second at high rates or relatively low pressures. The resulting cell has good efficiency and according to one embodiment is characterized by a narrow interface between the absorber and buffer layers. The buffer is further characterized according to a second embodiment by a relatively high oxygen content.