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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.:

US 9401443 B1

PDFFull Text
Date of Patent:
Jul. 26, 2016

Filed:

Sep. 05, 2012

Electrodeposition methods of gallium and gallium alloy films and related photovoltaic structures

Applicants:

Shafaat Ahmed, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);

Hariklia Deligianni, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);

Qiang Huang, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);

Kathleen B. Reuter, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);

Lubomyr T. Romankiw, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);

Raman Vaidyanathan, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);

Inventors:

Shafaat Ahmed, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);

Hariklia Deligianni, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);

Qiang Huang, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);

Kathleen B. Reuter, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);

Lubomyr T. Romankiw, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);

Raman Vaidyanathan, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);

Assignee:

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION, Armonk, NY (US);

Attorneys:

Cantor Colburn LLP

Vazken Alexanian

Primary Examiner:

Nicholas A Smith

Assistant Examiner:

Brian W Cohen

Int. Cl.
CPC ...
C25D 3/38 (2006.01); C25D 3/54 (2006.01); C25D 3/56 (2006.01); C25D 3/58 (2006.01); C25D 7/12 (2006.01); C25D 5/10 (2006.01); H01L 31/032 (2006.01); C25D 5/56 (2006.01); H01L 21/02 (2006.01); H01L 31/0749 (2012.01); H01L 23/373 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 31/0322 (2013.01); C25D 3/38 (2013.01); C25D 3/54 (2013.01); C25D 3/58 (2013.01); C25D 5/10 (2013.01); C25D 5/56 (2013.01); C25D 7/126 (2013.01); H01L 21/02568 (2013.01); H01L 21/02628 (2013.01); H01L 31/0749 (2013.01); H01L 23/3738 (2013.01); H01L 2224/73253 (2013.01); Y02E 10/541 (2013.01);
Abstract

Photovoltaic devices and methods for preparing a p-type semiconductor generally include electroplating a layer of gallium or a gallium alloy onto a conductive layer by contacting the conductive layer with a plating bath free of complexing agents including a gallium salt, methane sulfonic acid or sodium sulfate and an organic additive comprising at least one nitrogen atom and/or at least one sulfur atom, and a solvent; adjusting a pH of the solution to be less than 2.6 or greater than 12.6. The photovoltaic device includes an impurity in the p-type semiconductor layer selected from the group consisting of arsenic, antimony, bismuth, and mixtures thereof. Various photovoltaic precursor layers for forming CIS, CGS and CIGS p-type semiconductor structures can be formed by electroplating the gallium or gallium alloys in this manner. Also disclosed are processes for forming a thermal interface of gallium or a gallium alloy.

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