GENERIS PECVD Inline System for TOPCon, POLO, HJT & PERC Solar Cells

SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES employs inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and capacitively coupled (CCP) sources for inline PECVD coating applications. ICP is a method that offers a high electron and activation density in conjunction with low ion energy, which allows very high deposition rates over a large width and extraordinary layer quality with wide process windows at low substrate damage. Therefore, ICP plasma sources are ideally suitable for high-rate and low-damage mass production of electronic devices like solar cells. CCP is an ideal method for depositing of thin or thick conductive layers, highly doped as needed in the PV cell technology. SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES has developed new, large-scale linear plasma sources based on ICP and CCP technology. Both technologies are used for processes developed using state-of- the-art PECVD lab equipment at SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES R&D center.

SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES has also delivered systems for the deposition of functional layers for the production of gallium arsenide (GaAs) photovoltaic cells. The PECVD coating step is a crucial quality factor for GaAs solar cells that are renowned to achieve very high efficiency in excess of 35 % in multi-junction setup and that are used in space applications for the power generation of satellites.

The GENERIS PECVD is a modular horizontal inline tool designed for the special needs in mass production of state-of-the-art crystalline silicon solar cells with highest efficiencies, such as passivated emitter and rear cells (PERC) and cells with passivated contacts (e.g., TOPCon, POLO and HJT). PERC solar cells are coated on both sides with dielectric passivation layers. Rear side passivation is achieved by deposition of a thin aluminum oxide (AlOx) layer capped by hydrogen rich silicon nitride (SiNx:H). On the front side, a layer of SiNx:H serves as both, passivation, and anti-reflective coating (ARC).