Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization

Vapor Deposition

Synthesis

Solution Deposition

Our large area CdCl2 treatment tube furnace allows for up 6 in. by 6 in. samples to be heating in a controlled environment for CdCl2 treatment . The current set-up allows for N2, Ar, and dry air.

Our CSS systems sublimate the powdered source material directly onto 3 in. x 3 in. substrates at high temperature. The temperature can go up to 700 degrees C and down to mTorr range partial pressure. We have many systems have had deposited CdTe, CdS, Zn3P2, CdCl2, ZnCl2, among other materials.

The main portion our cluster system was designed to deposit complete amorphous Si solar cells through PECVD of the active layers and TCO and metals for the electrodes. Additional chamber have been added that allow rf sputtering of CdS and CdTe, and coevaporation of Cu, In, Ga, and Se. Each chamber is equiped with ellipsometry ports for monitoring of deposition processes by Real-Time Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (RTSE). This chamber was built by MV Systems and can handle samples up to 6 in. x 6 in. or 6 in. wide reel-to-reel webs.

Our co-evaporation cystem uses vacuum growth method to deposit CZTSe film. It is built with five different Luxel heating sources for the deposition of elemental Cu, Zn, Sn, Se. This system is capable to grow the film on 6 in. X 6 in. substrate using rotating substrate holder. The optical crystal monitor controlled by IC6 is generally used for thickness calibration. An electron impact emission spectroscopy (EIES) can also be used for flux measurement. The system was made by AJA International.

Our RF magnetron sputtering vacuum system is capable of co-sputtering ternary or quaternary metal chalcogenide thin films. The system contains three 3 in. diameter RF sputtering guns and can be fully automated for co-sputtering of up to three materials. The system can be used to deposit Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) and Cu2BaSnS4 (CBTS) thin films. The system was made by Kurt J. Lesker.

Our dedicated sputter systems are capable of sputtering one material from one 3 in. diameter targets at a time onto substrates up to 6" in diameter. The substrates can be heated to 250 degrees C during the deposition. One system is dedicated to RF sputtering of TCO materials and has three guns available. The other is dedicated to DC sputtering of metals and has two guns. These systems are made by Kurt J. Lesker.

Our electron beam (e-beam) evaporator has four pockets for e-beam evaporation material, and can deposit on samples up to 6 in. in diameter. In addition to e-beam evaporation, the system has two thermal evaporation sources. This system has been used to deposit metals and anti-reflection coatings. This system was made by Kurt J. Lesker.

Our utility sputter system is a four target (three 2 in. and one 3 in.) system equipped with a rotatable sample mount that can hold up to four 3 in. x 3 in. substrates. The sputter guns are situation such that the sputter only on the substrate located directly above it. A heater capable of heating one substrate up to 300 degrees C has been added. Materials used in this system include Mo, CdSe, ZnO, MgO, ZnTe, CdSnO4. This system was made by Kurt J. Lesker.

Our GLAD system is capable of RF sputtering semiconductor materials at oblique angle incidence onto substrates up to 6 in. in diameter. The substrates can be rotated and heated up to 300 degrees C. The system is also capable of depositing materials by electron beam evaporation. For real time monitoring the system is equipped with ellipsometer ports. This system was made by Kurt J. Lesker.

The Large Area CIGS system is a multi-element evaporation system. This system consists of five crucibles and is dedicated to deposition of CIGS. The system can deposit onto substrate up to 6 in. x 6 in. heated to 600 degrees C. This system was made by Kurt J. Lesker.

Our Large Area TCO sputter system consists of three 4 in. sputter guns and is dedicated to transparent conducting oxide (TCO) and buffer layer deposition. The system can deposit onto substrate up to 6 in. x 6 in. heated to 300 degrees C. This system was made by Kurt J. Lesker.

Our linear RF sputtering system is capable of sputtering CdS, CdSe, and CdTe materials onto substrates up to 6 in. x 6 in. The substrates can be heated to 250 degrees C and oscillated above the target for uniform deposition over the entire substrate area. The system has the capability of in-situ through the glass Spectroscopic Ellipsometer (SE) measurement. This system was made by Kurt J. Lesker.

Our mini-spectros system is an integrated glove-box complex that enables solution and vacuum processing of perovskite solar cells in an inert environment. The system consists of 2 connected glove-boxes and 3 vacuum chambers. The vacuum chambers allow deposition of organic charge transporting materials, organic-inorganic perovskite absorber materials, metal electrodes, and transparent conductive oxides using thermal evaporation and RF sputtering. The system was made by Kurt J. Lesker.

Our plasma enhanced ALD system is equipped a plasma generation system that promotes the decomposition of organometallic precursors, ensuring the uniformity of deposited metal oxide films and minimize both precursor consumption and cycle time. The system can accommodate samples up to 6 in. in diameter. This system was made by Ensure Scientific.

Our rapid thermal annealing (RTA) furnace allows rapid heating of the tube furnace to more than 1000 degrees C in less than 10 minutes. This furnace is used to synthesize materials that required high temperature processing. This system was built by MTI.

Our tube furnace allows max temperature of 1200 degrees C and is equipped with a controller that allows a single ramp to the set point and process timer. This furnace is dedicated to the selenization of metal chalcogenide thin films. This system was made by Carbolite.

Our single source sputter system is used to sputter semiconductor materials for device fabrication and optical characterization of the deposited thin film. The system can hold 4 in. substrate and heat them to 300 degrees C. The system has a provision for real time monitoring by RTSE.

Our atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a thermal ALD system used to deposit SnO2, TiO2, Al2O3, SiO2, ZnO, MgO, NiO, Nb2O5 layer-by-layer. This system is capable of holding samples up to 6 in. in diameter and heat them to 200 degrees C. This system was made by Ensure Scientific.

Our thermal evaporator is a two source evaporation system equipped with quartz deposition thickness monitors and removable evaporation mounts. The system can deposit on samples up to 6 in. x 6 in. without heating. This system was made by Denton.

Our single walled carbon nanotube synthesis system uses a free-running Nd:YAG laser for the laser synthesis process. The system is versatile enough to produce a wide range of diameter tubes by manipulating the synthesis parameters. In addition the purification and separation methods have also been established.

Our Schlenk line is connected to a dual manifold with several ports. One manifold is connected to purified inert gases (nitrogen and argon) and the other manifold is connected to the vacuum pump through a liquid nitrogen trap. We also have several heating manifolds available. This system has been used to synthesize semiconducting quantum dots.

Our aerosol spray system is used for fast deposition of metal oxide thin films using aqueous metal precursor solution. The simple program automatically controls the spray patterns. A hot plate is used to keep the substrates at a desired temperature. This system was made in-house.

Our dip coater can dip up to 1 in. x 1 in. substrates into a solution using a programmed rate and number of cycles. This system also allows the substrate to be dipped into several solutions in a specific sequence. This system was made by NIMA.

Our inert atmosphere deposition system consists of a spin coater and hot plate located in a glove box, which is connected to a high vacuum evaporation system. This system allow solution processing of air sensitive materials from initial deposition to device completion without exposure to ambient air. Substrates up to 3 in. squares can be used with this system. The evaporation system has two thermal evaporation sources and one electron beam source.

Our Perovskite glove-box cluster includes 4 individual nitrogen glove boxes each equipped with a spin-coater for deposition of different functional materials, including normal-, wide-, and low-bandgap perovskites and electron/hole transporting materials.

Our spin coater is used to spin solution processed materials ranging from photoresist to nanomaterials and perovskite materials. One spin coater is located in a clean room with UV filtered lights to allow for subsequent lithographic patterning. The other is located in a fume hood for general use. Both spincoaters were made by Laurell.

Our ultrasonic spray deposition systems can spray solution based materials onto substrates up to 6 in. x 6 in. The substrates sit on a substrate heater capable of reaching 500 degrees C. One system is located in a glove box to allow for deposition of air sensitive material. Two other systems are enclosed in boxes in the general lab area. Stepper motors allow the films to uniformly cover the substrate.