CN220202026U - Vacuum coating equipment and system - Google Patents

Abstract

The application discloses vacuum coating equipment and system, which belong to the field of solar cells. The vacuum coating equipment comprises a first surface coating group, an automatic film turning device, a second surface coating group and a main control unit; the first surface coating group comprises a first inlet chamber group for environmental transition, a first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber for film preparation and a first outlet chamber group for environmental transition; the second surface coating group comprises a second inlet end chamber group used for environmental transition, an RPD coating chamber used for film preparation, a second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber and a second outlet end chamber group used for environmental transition; RPD coating chamber and second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber RPD+PVD composite TCO film; the composite TCO film is a laminated composite film formed by depositing a PVD film on one surface of the RPD film, which is far away from the battery piece silicon wafer. The preparation method can reduce the preparation cost under the condition of ensuring the preparation efficiency and the energy conversion rate of the SHJ battery, and breaks through the problem of limited productivity of RPD equipment.

Description

Vacuum coating equipment and system

Technical Field

The application belongs to the technical field of solar energy, relates to preparation of battery pieces, and in particular relates to vacuum coating equipment and a vacuum coating system.

Background

Currently, PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition ) equipment is generally used for preparing heterojunction solar cells, but the conversion efficiency of solar cells prepared by PVD equipment is not very ideal. The RPD (reactive plasma deposition ) equipment has remarkable advantages in the aspect of preparing the high-efficiency heterojunction solar cell, and the conversion efficiency of the prepared solar cell can be improved by 0.1-0.3% compared with that of PVD; however, the RPD device has its own defect that the productivity is smaller, if all the coating is completed by using the RPD device, the requirement of large productivity cannot be met, and if the RPD device is increased to increase the productivity, the problem of high equipment cost is caused.

In the prior art, in order to solve the above problems, two deposition processes are used in combination, but generally, an RPD deposition process is used to prepare a TCO film on the front surface of the SHJ battery, and a PVD process is used to prepare a TCO film on the back surface of the SHJ battery, so as to achieve the purpose of improving the energy conversion efficiency of the SHJ battery under the condition of controlling the cost. However, this method only solves the above problems to a certain extent, but cannot completely solve the above problems, because in this combination method, the demand for RPD devices is still large, and the production capacity is limited, and the above technical problems still exist to a certain extent.

Disclosure of Invention

The present application aims to solve, at least to some extent, one of the technical problems in the related art described above.

Therefore, the purpose of the application is to provide a vacuum coating device, which can reduce the input cost of the device to the greatest extent on the premise of ensuring the conversion efficiency of the prepared battery, and can break through the problem of limited productivity of RPD devices.

In order to solve the technical problems, the application is realized as follows:

the embodiment of the application provides vacuum coating equipment, which comprises a first surface coating group, an automatic sheet turning device, a second surface coating group and a main control unit; the first surface coating group, the automatic film turning device and the second surface coating group are connected with the main control unit and work under the control of the main control unit;

the first surface coating group comprises: the first end inlet chamber group is used for realizing the transition from the external environment to the film making process environment, the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber is used for preparing the TCO film on the first surface of the battery piece, and the first end outlet chamber group is used for realizing the transition from the film making process environment to the external environment;

the second surface coating group comprises: the second inlet end chamber group is used for realizing the transition from the external environment to the film making process environment, the RPD film coating chamber and the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber which are sequentially arranged and used for preparing the TCO film on the second surface of the battery piece, and the second outlet end chamber group is used for realizing the transition from the film making process environment to the external environment; the RPD coating chamber and the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber are used for preparing an RPD+PVD composite TCO film on the second surface of the battery piece; the composite TCO film is a laminated composite film formed by depositing a PVD film on one surface of the RPD film, which is far away from the battery piece silicon wafer.

In addition, the vacuum coating equipment according to the application can also have the following additional technical characteristics:

in some embodiments, 1-10 rotating cathodes or planar cathodes are arranged in the chamber of the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber, and any cathode is coated upwards;

1-8 plasma generating devices are arranged in the RPD coating chamber, and the plasma generating devices are arranged in any combination mode; each plasma device is correspondingly provided with a crucible for installing a target, and a target supply structure for automatically supplying the target is arranged below the crucible; the plasma generating device is coated upwards;

1-10 rotating cathodes or plane cathodes are arranged in the chamber of the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber, and any cathode is coated upwards.

In some embodiments, the first inlet chamber group comprises a first inlet lock chamber, a first inlet buffer chamber and a first inlet transition chamber which are sequentially arranged; the first outlet chamber group comprises a first outlet transition chamber, a first outlet buffer chamber and a first outlet lock chamber which are sequentially arranged;

the second inlet end chamber group comprises a second inlet end lock chamber, a second inlet end buffer chamber and a second inlet end transition chamber which are sequentially arranged; the second outlet chamber group comprises a second outlet transition chamber, a second outlet buffer chamber and a second outlet lock chamber which are sequentially arranged.

In some embodiments, a first transmission mode changing structure is arranged in the cavity of each of the first inlet transition chamber and the second inlet transition chamber, so that the transmission mode of the carrier plate is changed from a discontinuous mode to a continuous mode;

and second transmission mode changing structures are arranged in the cavities of the first outlet end transition chamber and the second outlet end transition chamber respectively, so that the transmission mode of the carrier plate is changed from a continuous mode to a discontinuous mode.

In some embodiments, gate valve structures are arranged at the inlet ends of the first and second inlet lock chambers, between the first inlet lock chamber and the first inlet buffer chamber, between the first inlet buffer chamber and the first inlet transition chamber, between the second inlet lock chamber and the second inlet buffer chamber, and between the second inlet buffer chamber and the second inlet transition chamber; the door valve structure is connected with the main control unit;

gate valve structures are arranged between the first outlet end transition chamber and the first outlet end buffer chamber, between the first outlet end buffer chamber and the first outlet end lock chamber, between the second outlet end transition chamber and the second outlet end buffer chamber, between the second outlet end buffer chamber and the second outlet end lock chamber and at the outlet ends of the first outlet end lock chamber and the second outlet end lock chamber; the gate valve structure is connected with the main control unit.

In some embodiments, the first and second inlet lock chambers, the first and second inlet buffer chambers, the first and second outlet buffer chambers, and the first and second outlet lock chambers are respectively provided with a first vacuumizing pump set, and the chambers are respectively provided with a first vacuum gauge set; the first vacuumizing pump set is connected with the corresponding chamber; the first vacuumizing pump set and the first vacuum gauge set are connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit controls the first vacuumizing pump set to work according to the measurement result of the first vacuum gauge set so as to vacuumize the cavity.

In some embodiments, the vacuum degree in the first inlet lock chamber, the first inlet buffer chamber and the first inlet transition chamber and the vacuum degree in the second inlet lock chamber, the second inlet buffer chamber and the second inlet transition chamber are sequentially increased; the vacuum degree in the first outlet transition chamber, the first outlet buffer chamber and the first outlet lock chamber, and the vacuum degree in the second outlet transition chamber, the second outlet buffer chamber and the second outlet lock chamber are sequentially weakened.

In some embodiments, the chambers of the first and second inlet buffer chambers are respectively provided with a heater for heating the carrier plate and the battery piece and a first thermometer for measuring real-time temperature, the heater and the first thermometer are both connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit controls the heater to work according to the measurement result of the first thermometer; and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the cooling device comprises a main control unit and is characterized in that coolers for cooling a carrier plate and a battery piece and a second thermometer for measuring real-time temperature are arranged in cavities of the first outlet buffer chamber and the second outlet buffer chamber, the coolers and the second thermometer are connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit controls the coolers to work according to measurement results of the second thermometer.

In some embodiments, the chambers of the first and second inlet buffer chambers are respectively provided with a first atmosphere buffer structure, and the first atmosphere buffer structure is arranged at the gate valve of the near-inlet transition chamber;

the first atmosphere buffer structure is connected with an external compensation gas path system and is used for injecting atmosphere to reduce the fluctuation of the pressure of a subsequent process cavity when the door is opened;

a first gas mass flowmeter is arranged in the first atmosphere buffer structure and is used for measuring the amount of injected gas;

The first atmosphere buffer structure and the first gas mass flowmeter are connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit controls the operation of the atmosphere buffer structure according to the injected gas amount.

In some embodiments, a second atmosphere buffer structure is further configured in the cavity of the outlet buffer chamber, and the second atmosphere buffer structure is disposed near a gate valve of the outlet transition chamber;

the second atmosphere buffer structure is connected with an external compensation gas path system and is used for injecting atmosphere to reduce the fluctuation of the pressure of a subsequent process cavity when the door is opened;

a second gas mass flowmeter is arranged in the second atmosphere buffer structure and is used for measuring the amount of injected gas;

the second atmosphere buffer structure and the second gas mass flowmeter are both connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit controls the second atmosphere buffer structure to work according to the injected gas quantity.

In some embodiments, the first inlet transition chamber, the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber and the chamber of the first outlet transition chamber share one or more groups of second vacuum pump sets, one or more groups of second vacuum gauge sets are arranged in the chamber, and the second vacuum pump sets are connected with the corresponding chambers; the second inlet end transition chamber and the RPD coating chamber, the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber and the second outlet end transition chamber share one or two groups of third vacuumizing pump sets, one or two groups of third vacuum gauge sets are arranged in the chambers, and the third vacuumizing pump sets are connected with the corresponding chambers;

A fourth vacuumizing pump set is arranged at the chamber of the RPD coating chamber, and a fourth vacuum gauge set is arranged in the chamber; the fourth vacuumizing pump set is connected with the corresponding chamber;

the second vacuumizing pump set, the second vacuum gauge set, the third vacuumizing pump set, the third vacuum gauge set, the fourth vacuumizing pump set and the fourth vacuum gauge set are all connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit controls the corresponding vacuumizing pump sets to work according to measurement results of all the vacuum gauge sets to realize vacuumizing of the cavity.

In some embodiments, one or more process gas channel systems containing gas mass flow meters are respectively arranged in the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber, the RPD coating chamber and the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber, the gas outlets of the process gas channel systems are arranged in the corresponding chambers, the process gas channel systems and the gas mass flow meters arranged in the process gas channel systems are connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit sends out instructions to control the process gas channel systems to inject process atmosphere according to the measurement results of the gas mass flow meters;

and a gas isolation cavity is arranged between the RPD coating cavity and the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber.

The embodiment of the application also provides a vacuum coating equipment system, which comprises the vacuum coating equipment.

Compared with the prior art, the utility model has at least the following beneficial effects:

in the embodiment of the application, the vacuum coating equipment provided realizes the combination of RPD and PVD in a unique mode to prepare the heterojunction solar cell, the TCO film on one side of the cell is prepared by adopting the PVD mode, the TCO film on the other side of the cell is prepared into the composite film by adopting the mode of RPD+PVD, the energy conversion efficiency of the PVD films on two sides is improved, the transition dependence on the RPD equipment is avoided, and the problem that the capacity of the RPD equipment is small and limited is avoided.

The vacuum coating system of the present application includes the vacuum coating apparatus, and thus has at least all the features and advantages of the vacuum coating apparatus, and will not be described herein. Additional aspects and advantages of the application will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the utility model.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a vacuum coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of a vacuum coating apparatus according to another embodiment of the present application.

Reference numerals illustrate:

c1-an inlet lock chamber; c2-an inlet buffer chamber; a C3-inlet transition chamber; c401-a first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber; C402-RPD coating chamber; c403-a second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber; a C5-outlet transition chamber; c6-an outlet buffer chamber; c7-out end lock chamber.

Detailed Description

The following description of the embodiments of the present application will be made clearly and fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which it is evident that the embodiments described are some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present application. All other embodiments, which can be made by one of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments herein without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the present application.

The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings by means of specific embodiments and application scenarios thereof.

Referring to fig. 1, in some embodiments of the present application, a vacuum coating apparatus is provided, which can be applied to a preparation process of a high-efficiency heterojunction solar cell, for example, to realize a coating process of the solar cell in the preparation process of the heterojunction solar cell. The RPD and PVD composite device can realize the preparation of an RPD+PVD composite film, and the composite film has excellent photoelectric performance and can improve the performance of a heterojunction solar cell; the composite device can fully utilize the advantages of RPD coating, and simultaneously, the PVD is used for sharing part of coating steps, so that the defect of insufficient productivity of RPD equipment is avoided, the dependence on the RPD equipment is reduced, and the quality of a film layer is met.

Specifically, according to fig. 1, in one embodiment of the present application, a vacuum coating apparatus includes: an automatic film loading mechanism, a first surface film coating group, an automatic film turning device, a second surface film coating group and an automatic film unloading mechanism;

the first surface coating group comprises an inlet lock chamber C1, an inlet buffer chamber C2, an inlet transition chamber C3, a first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401, an outlet transition chamber C5, an outlet buffer chamber C6 and an outlet lock chamber C7 which are sequentially arranged; the second surface coating group comprises an inlet lock chamber C1, an inlet buffer chamber C2, an inlet transition chamber C3, an RPD coating chamber C402, a gas isolation chamber, a second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403, an outlet transition chamber C5, an outlet buffer chamber C6 and an outlet lock chamber C7 which are sequentially arranged.

In the first surface coating group, gate valve structures are arranged between the automatic sheet loading mechanism and the connected inlet lock chamber C1, between the inlet lock chamber C1 and the inlet buffer chamber C2, between the inlet buffer chamber C2 and the inlet buffer chamber C3, between the outlet buffer chamber C5 and the outlet buffer chamber C6, between the outlet buffer chamber C6 and the outlet lock chamber C7 and between the outlet lock chamber C7 and the automatic sheet turning device, and are used for opening and allowing battery sheets to pass through when a previous structure or a chamber finishes a preparation step and enters a subsequent chamber, and then closing and keeping an isolated state between the two chambers.

In the second surface coating group, a gate valve structure is arranged between the automatic sheet turning device and an inlet lock chamber C1, an inlet lock chamber C1 and an inlet buffer chamber C2, an inlet buffer chamber C2 and an inlet buffer chamber C3, an outlet buffer chamber C5 and an outlet buffer chamber C6, an outlet buffer chamber C6 and an outlet lock chamber C7 and an automatic sheet discharging mechanism, and is used for opening a battery sheet to pass through when a former structure or a chamber finishes a preparation step and enters a latter chamber, and then closing and keeping an isolated state between the two chambers.

In this embodiment, corresponding conveying structures are disposed in each chamber, so that the carrier plate carrying the battery pieces can be conveyed in each chamber and between the chambers, and thus a designated station is reached for realizing each preparation step. The transmission structure can adopt the structure existing in the prior art, and the application is not excessively limited. The automatic feeding mechanism is also realized by adopting the existing structure and is used for automatically feeding sheets.

In this embodiment, each of the chambers C1-C3, C401-C403, C5-C7 includes a corresponding chamber (also referred to as an inner chamber) and structures, components, devices, systems, etc. disposed inside and outside the chamber for implementing the process requirements and/or specific functions of the chamber before and after the TCO film preparation and in the film preparation.

In this embodiment, the two ends of the chamber of the inlet lock chamber C1 in the first surface coating group and the second surface coating group are respectively in a transitional vacuum state of an atmospheric environment and an inlet buffer chamber C2, so the purpose of the arrangement of the inlet lock chamber C1 is to realize the transition between the atmospheric environment and the transitional vacuum state, which is also called a rough vacuum state. The inlet end door valve of the inlet end lock chamber C1 is in contact with the atmosphere, the inlet end door valve is opened (at the moment, the outlet end door valve is closed) to receive the carrier plate transmitted by the automatic loading mechanism in the atmosphere state, then the inlet end door valve is closed, the vacuumizing operation is carried out, and the air pressure in the carrier plate is pumped to the rough vacuum state. An independent vacuumizing pump set is arranged at the chamber of the inlet lock chamber C1 and is connected with the inner cavity of the inlet lock chamber C1, and the chamber of the inlet lock chamber C1 is vacuumized through the action of the vacuumizing pump set; the vacuum gauge is further arranged in the cavity of the inlet lock chamber C1 and used for measuring the vacuum degree in the cavity in real time, the vacuum gauge is connected with a main control unit arranged outside, the main control unit compares the real-time vacuum degree measured by the vacuum gauge with a preset vacuum threshold value, and the vacuum pumping pump set is controlled to work according to a comparison result, and vacuumizing is stopped when the vacuum degree reaches the vacuum threshold value.

In this embodiment, the inlet buffer chamber C2 in the first surface coating group and the second surface coating group receives the carrier plate transferred from the inlet lock chamber C1, heats the carrier plate and the silicon wafer thereon, and transfers the carrier plate to the next chamber transition vacuum chamber C3. Correspondingly, a heater and a thermometer are arranged in the chamber of the inlet buffer chamber C2, the heater and the thermometer are connected with a main control unit, the main control unit compares the real-time temperature measured by the thermometer with a preset temperature threshold value, and controls the heater to work according to the comparison result, and heating is stopped when the temperature threshold value is reached. The two inlet and outlet ends of the inlet buffer chamber C2 are respectively in a rough vacuum state and a film-forming vacuum state of C3, so the setting purpose of the inlet buffer chamber C2 further comprises the realization of transition buffer between the rough vacuum state and the film-forming vacuum state. The inlet end door valve of the inlet end buffer chamber C2 is connected with the inlet end lock chamber C1, the inlet end door valve is opened (at the moment, the outlet end door valve is closed) to receive the carrier plate transmitted by the inlet end lock chamber C1 in the state of vacuum exchange of C1 and C2, then the inlet end door valve is closed, the vacuum pumping operation is carried out, and the air pressure in the carrier plate is pumped to the vacuum state of film making. An independent vacuumizing pump set is arranged at the chamber of the inlet buffer chamber, the vacuumizing pump set is connected with the inner cavity of the inlet buffer chamber C2, and the inner cavity of the inlet buffer chamber C2 is vacuumized through the action of the vacuumizing pump set; the vacuum gauge is further arranged in the cavity of the inlet end buffer chamber C2 and used for measuring the vacuum degree in the cavity in real time, the vacuum gauge is connected with the main control unit arranged outside, the main control unit compares the real-time vacuum degree measured by the vacuum gauge with a preset vacuum threshold value, and the vacuum pumping pump set is controlled to work according to a comparison result, and the vacuum pumping is stopped when the vacuum degree reaches the vacuum threshold value. An atmosphere buffer structure is further arranged in the cavity of the inlet buffer chamber C2, the atmosphere buffer structure is arranged at the door valve of the near-inlet transition chamber C3 and is connected with a compensation gas path system, and when the door is opened, atmosphere is injected by the atmosphere buffer structure so as to reduce fluctuation of pressure intensity of a subsequent process chamber when the door is opened, and specifically: and before a door valve between the inlet buffer chamber C2 and the inlet transition chamber C3 is opened, gas is introduced from an atmosphere buffer structure, the pressure in the chamber C2 is regulated to be the same as that of the inlet transition chamber C3, and thus the process pressure of the inlet transition chamber C3, the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401 or the RPD coating chamber C402 cannot be strongly fluctuated when the door is opened. The atmosphere buffer structure is internally provided with a gas mass flowmeter for measuring the amount of injected gas. The atmosphere buffer structure and the gas mass flowmeter are connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit receives the gas amount and controls the operation of the atmosphere buffer structure according to whether the gas amount reaches the standard.

In this embodiment, the inlet transition chamber C3 in the first surface coating group and the second surface coating group receives the carrier plate transferred from the inlet buffer chamber C2, converts the transmission mode of the carrier plate from the intermittent mode to the continuous mode, and converts the transmission speed to the transmission speed set by the process, and transmits the carrier plate to the next chamber for coating, i.e. to the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401 or the RPD coating chamber C402. The structure of converting the discontinuous mode into the continuous mode can adopt the existing structure, and the application is not limited excessively. In addition, in order to ensure the vacuum degree in the inlet transition chamber C3, an independent vacuumizing pump set is arranged at the chamber of the inlet transition chamber C3, the vacuumizing pump set is connected with the inner cavity of the inlet transition chamber C3, and the inlet transition chamber C3 is vacuumized through the action of the vacuumizing pump set; the vacuum gauge is further arranged in the cavity of the inlet end transition chamber C3 and used for measuring the vacuum degree in the cavity in real time, the vacuum gauge is connected with the main control unit arranged outside, the main control unit compares the real-time vacuum degree measured by the vacuum gauge with a preset vacuum threshold value, and the vacuum pumping pump set is controlled to work according to a comparison result, and the vacuum pumping is stopped when the vacuum degree reaches the vacuum threshold value.

In one embodiment of the present application, 1-10 rotating cathodes or planar cathode devices are installed in the chamber of the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401 in the first side coating group, and any cathode can implement upward coating for performing deposition preparation of the first TCO film on the first side of the incoming battery sheet. In this solution, the p-side of the battery piece (the side with the p-type microcrystalline silicon layer) is transported down into the first side plating group, so the first side of the battery piece may be the p-side of the battery piece. The first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401 is internally provided with a process gas path system containing a gas mass flowmeter in a cavity, a gas outlet of the process gas path system is arranged in the cavity, and the process gas path system and the gas mass flowmeter therein are connected with a main control unit and used for injecting process atmosphere according to instructions of the main control unit so as to ensure that the atmosphere environment in the sputtering chamber meets the film deposition requirement. In addition, in order to ensure that the vacuum degree in the cavity of the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401 is suitable for film preparation, an independent vacuumizing pump set is arranged at the cavity of the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401, the vacuumizing pump set is connected with the inner cavity of the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401, and the cavity of the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401 is vacuumized through the action of the vacuumizing pump set; the vacuum gauge is further arranged in the chamber of the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401 and used for measuring the vacuum degree in the chamber in real time, the vacuum gauge is connected with the main control unit arranged outside, the main control unit compares the real-time vacuum degree measured by the vacuum gauge with a preset vacuum threshold value, and the vacuum pumping pump set is controlled to work according to a comparison result, and vacuum pumping is stopped when the vacuum degree reaches the vacuum threshold value.

In another embodiment, a plurality of process gas circuit systems containing gas mass flow meters are arranged at the chamber of the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401. The gas outlets of the multi-path process gas path system are respectively arranged at each position in the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401 so as to better inject the atmosphere and ensure the uniformity of the atmosphere.

In another embodiment, the number of vacuum gauges in the cavity of the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401 is multiple, that is, the vacuum gauge group, each vacuum gauge in the vacuum gauge group is arranged at each position in the cavity of the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401, and the vacuum degree of each position is collected, so that when leakage or failure occurs, the fault position can be measured more quickly and more sensitively, and the quality of thin film sputtering deposition is further ensured.

In one embodiment of the present application, the RPD coating chamber C402 in the second surface coating group receives the carrier plate transferred from the inlet transition chamber C3, performs dynamic reactive ion coating according to the process setting, and sends the carrier plate to the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403 in the next chamber after coating is completed. 1-8 plasma generating devices are arranged in the RPD cavity, and the plasma generating devices are distributed in the cavity and are distributed in any combination mode; each plasma device is correspondingly provided with a crucible capable of installing a target, and a target supply structure for automatically supplying the target is arranged below the crucible; the chamber can only be coated upward for preparing a second TCO film on the second side (n-side) of the cell. In this scheme, after the p-side of the battery piece completes the first-side coating, the piece is turned over, so that the n-side (the side with the n-type microcrystalline silicon layer) is transferred downwards into the second-side coating group, and therefore the second side of the battery piece is the n-side of the battery piece. And a path of process gas path system containing a gas mass flowmeter is arranged at the cavity of the RPD coating cavity C402, a gas outlet of the process gas path system is arranged in the cavity, and the process gas path system and the gas mass flowmeter therein are connected with the main control unit and used for injecting process atmosphere according to the instruction of the main control unit so as to ensure that the atmosphere environment in the RPD coating cavity meets the film deposition requirement. In addition, in order to ensure that the vacuum degree in the cavity of the RPD coating cavity C402 is suitable for film preparation, an independent vacuumizing pump set is arranged at the cavity of the RPD coating cavity C402, the vacuumizing pump set is connected with the inner cavity of the RPD coating cavity C402, and the cavity of the RPD coating cavity C402 is vacuumized through the action of the vacuumizing pump set; the vacuum gauge is further arranged in the cavity of the RPD coating cavity C402 and used for measuring the vacuum degree in the cavity in real time, the vacuum gauge is connected with the main control unit arranged outside, the main control unit compares the real-time vacuum degree measured by the vacuum gauge with a preset vacuum threshold value, the work of the vacuumizing pump set is controlled according to a comparison result, and vacuumizing is stopped when the vacuum degree reaches the vacuum threshold value.

In another embodiment, the RPD coating chamber C402 is configured with a multi-path process gas path system including a gas mass flow meter. The air outlets of the multi-path process gas path system are respectively arranged at each position in the cavity of the RPD coating cavity C402, so that the atmosphere can be better injected and the uniformity of the atmosphere can be ensured.

In another embodiment, the number of vacuum gauges in the cavity of the RPD film plating cavity C402 is multiple, that is, the vacuum gauge group, each vacuum gauge in the vacuum gauge group is arranged at each position in the cavity of the RPD film plating cavity C402, and the vacuum degree of each position is collected, so that when leakage or failure occurs, the fault position can be measured more quickly and more sensitively, and the quality of film deposition is further ensured.

In the embodiment, a 1-10-rotation cathode or a planar cathode device is arranged in a chamber of the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403, and any cathode can realize upward film coating and finish the deposition of the transparent conductive film on the back of the battery together with the RPD chamber. The second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403 is used for preparing a third TCO film by sputtering on the outer surface (i.e. the surface far from the silicon wafer) of the second TCO film, and the second TCO film and the third TCO film together form an rpd+pvd composite film, which is used as the TCO film on the back surface of the cell, that is, a transparent conductive film. The chamber of the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403 is provided with a path of process gas path system containing a gas mass flowmeter, an air outlet of the process gas path system is arranged in the chamber, and the process gas path system and the gas mass flowmeter therein are connected with a main control unit and used for injecting process atmosphere according to instructions of the main control unit so as to ensure that the atmosphere environment in the PVD magnetron sputtering chamber meets the film sputtering deposition requirement. In addition, in order to ensure that the vacuum degree in the cavity of the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403 is suitable for film preparation, an independent vacuumizing pump set is arranged at the position of the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403, the vacuumizing pump set is connected with the inner cavity of the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403, and the cavity of the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403 is vacuumized through the action of the vacuumizing pump set; and a vacuum gauge is further arranged in the chamber of the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403 and used for measuring the vacuum degree in the chamber in real time, the vacuum gauge is connected with a main control unit arranged outside, the main control unit compares the real-time vacuum degree measured by the vacuum gauge with a preset vacuum threshold value, and the work of the vacuumizing pump set is controlled according to the comparison result, and vacuumizing is stopped when the vacuum degree reaches the vacuum threshold value.

In another embodiment, a multi-path process gas path system containing a gas mass flow meter is arranged at the chamber of the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403. The air outlets of the multi-path process gas path system are respectively arranged at each position in the chamber of the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403 so as to better inject the atmosphere and ensure the uniformity of the atmosphere.

In another embodiment, the number of vacuum gauges in the cavity of the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403 is multiple, that is, the vacuum gauge set, where each vacuum gauge in the vacuum gauge set is arranged at each position in the cavity of the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403, so as to collect the vacuum degree of each position, and when leakage or failure occurs, the fault position can be measured more quickly and more sensitively, thereby further guaranteeing the quality of thin film deposition.

As a preferred implementation manner, a gas isolation cavity is arranged between the RPD coating cavity C402 and the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403 in the second surface coating group, the gas isolation cavity is used for isolating the atmosphere between the RPD coating cavity C402 and the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403, so that the gases of two adjacent process cavities cannot be communicated in series, the mutual independence of the coating environments of the RPD coating cavity C402 and the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403 is ensured, and thus, the process parameters with great difference can be selected when the adjacent process cavities are coated. The means for achieving gas isolation is typically a molecular pump set with a large pumping speed.

In an embodiment of the present application, the outlet transition chamber C5, the outlet buffer chamber C6, the outlet lock chamber C7 in the first surface coating set and the second surface coating set are all set in one-to-one correspondence with the inlet transition chamber C3, the inlet buffer chamber C2, and the inlet lock chamber C1 of the inlet of the surface coating set, wherein:

the outlet transition chamber C5 is configured to convert the transmission mode of the carrier plate transmitted from the previous process vacuum chamber from a continuous mode to an intermittent mode, and convert the transmission speed to a transmission speed set by the process, and transmit the transmission speed to the subsequent outlet chamber and the sheet turning or discharging mechanism. The independent vacuumizing pump set and the independent vacuum gauge set are arranged at the chamber of the outlet end transition chamber C5, so that the vacuum degree in the chamber of the outlet end transition chamber C5 after the door opening valve is closed is operated is guaranteed to meet the preset requirement.

As a preferred embodiment, the chambers of the inlet end transition chamber C3, the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401 and the outlet end transition chamber C5 are sequentially communicated, and the three chambers can share a group of vacuumizing pump set and a group of vacuum gauges, and the vacuumizing positions and the vacuum gauges are uniformly arranged in the three chambers so as to ensure the consistency of the air pressure change of each chamber in the vacuumizing process. Similarly, the inlet end transition chamber C3 and the RPD coating chamber C402 and the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403 and the outlet end transition chamber C5 are both in a two-chamber communicated structure, the two chambers can share a group of vacuumizing pump set and a group of vacuum gauge, and the vacuumizing position and the vacuum gauge setting position are uniformly arranged in the two chambers so as to ensure the consistency of the air pressure change of each chamber in the vacuumizing process.

The outlet buffer chamber C6 is used for cooling the carrier plate and the battery piece transmitted by the outlet transition chamber C5 and transmitting the carrier plate to the next chamber; the outlet buffer chamber C6 is provided with an independent vacuumizing pump set and a vacuum gauge set as the inlet buffer chamber C2 so as to ensure that the vacuum degree in the outlet buffer chamber meets the preset requirement after the door opening valve and the door closing valve are operated; an atmosphere buffer structure is also arranged. The atmosphere buffer structure is arranged at the door valve of the near-outlet end transition chamber C5, is connected with the compensation gas path system, and is used for injecting atmosphere before the door opening valve so as to reduce the fluctuation of the pressure of a subsequent process chamber when the door opening valve is opened. The atmosphere buffer structure is internally provided with a gas mass flowmeter for measuring the amount of injected gas. The atmosphere buffer structure and the gas mass flowmeter are connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit receives the gas amount and controls the operation of the atmosphere buffer structure to reduce the fluctuation of the pressure of the process chamber when the door opening valve is opened according to whether the gas amount reaches the standard.

Optionally, the cooling of the carrier plate and the battery piece is realized by arranging a corresponding cooling device in the cavity. The cooling device can be a water cooling device or a temperature control system adopting other refrigerants, so that the setting of the environmental temperature of the chamber is realized.

The output lock chamber C7 receives the carrier plate transmitted from the output buffer chamber C6, realizes the state from vacuum return air to atmosphere through the output lock chamber, and sends the carrier plate to the automatic lifting platform. The outlet lock chamber C7 is provided with an independent vacuumizing pump set and a vacuum gauge set as the inlet lock chamber C1, and is used for vacuumizing the chamber after the door opening valve is closed, so that the chamber is in a rough vacuum state.

In one embodiment of the present application, the automatic wafer turning device is in an atmospheric pressure environment, and is configured to turn over the battery piece placed on the carrier plate, and place the turned-over battery piece on the carrier plate again, so as to enter the second surface coating group to perform coating of the second surface. The automatic sheet turning device can be realized in the prior art, the specific structure of the automatic sheet turning device is not limited excessively, and the required turning function of the automatic sheet turning device can be realized.

Optionally, in the present application, the order of the front side coating film and the back side coating film of the battery piece may be adjusted, that is, the order of the first side coating film group and the second side coating film group may be adjusted, for example, as shown in fig. 2, the second side coating film group is disposed in front of the first side coating film group, two ends of the second side coating film group are respectively connected with the automatic feeding mechanism and the automatic turning device, and two ends of the first side coating film group are respectively connected with the automatic turning device and the automatic discharging mechanism; the arrangement mode of each cavity in the first surface coating group and the second surface coating group is unchanged.

Optionally, part or all of an inlet buffer chamber C2, an inlet transition chamber C3, a first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C401, an RPD coating chamber C402, a second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber C403 and an outlet transition chamber C5 in the first surface coating group and the second surface coating group are provided with variable temperature cold traps for realizing control of the water vapor content in the chambers. The implementation mode of the variable temperature cold trap is not excessively limited in the application, and the prior art is adopted.

Table 1 below is the performance data, including mobility and transmittance, of the TCO films of different thicknesses prepared by PVD, RPD, and RPD+PVD.

TABLE 1

As can be seen from Table 1, there are great advantages in both material mobility and transmittance with RPD coatings. However, the equipment cost of the RPD is high and the equipment capacity is not high. If the RPD+PVD combined mode is adopted for coating, the performance of the film prepared by adopting the RPD is the same as or even better than that of the film prepared by adopting the RPD only when the RPD film layer accounts for 1/8 (or more) of the whole thickness

It should be noted that in the prior art, there are the following schemes: depositing a TCO film on one side of the cell in an RPD mode, and forming the TCO film on the other side in a PVD+RPD mode; the preparation method solves the specific technical problem, but as the RPD equipment is required to be used for both sides of the preparation method, and one side of the preparation method is used independently, namely the use requirement on the RPD equipment is larger and is limited by the productivity of the RPD equipment, the technical problem recorded in the background technology of the application still exists, that is, the technical problem of the application cannot be solved.

The utility model is not described in detail in a manner known to those skilled in the art.

The embodiments of the present application have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above-described embodiments, which are merely illustrative and not restrictive, and many forms may be made by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit of the present application and the scope of the claims, which are also within the protection of the present application.

Claims (13)

1. The vacuum coating equipment is characterized by comprising a first surface coating group, an automatic film turning device, a second surface coating group and a main control unit; the first surface coating group, the automatic film turning device and the second surface coating group are connected with the main control unit and work under the control of the main control unit;

the first surface coating group comprises: the first end inlet chamber group is used for realizing the transition from the external environment to the film making process environment, the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber is used for preparing the TCO film on the first surface of the battery piece, and the first end outlet chamber group is used for realizing the transition from the film making process environment to the external environment;

The second surface coating group comprises: the second inlet end chamber group is used for realizing the transition from the external environment to the film making process environment, the RPD film coating chamber and the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber which are sequentially arranged and used for preparing the TCO film on the second surface of the battery piece, and the second outlet end chamber group is used for realizing the transition from the film making process environment to the external environment; the RPD coating chamber and the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber are used for preparing an RPD+PVD composite TCO film on the second surface of the battery piece; the composite TCO film is a laminated composite film formed by depositing a PVD film on one surface of the RPD film, which is far away from the battery piece silicon wafer.

2. The vacuum coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein 1-10 rotating cathodes or planar cathodes are arranged in the chamber of the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber, and any one of the cathodes is coated upwards;

1-8 plasma generating devices are arranged in the RPD coating chamber, and the plasma generating devices are arranged in any combination mode; each plasma generating device is correspondingly provided with a crucible for installing a target, and a target supply structure for automatically supplying the target is arranged below the crucible; the plasma generating device is coated upwards;

1-10 rotating cathodes or plane cathodes are arranged in the chamber of the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber, and any cathode is coated upwards.

3. The vacuum coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first inlet chamber group includes a first inlet lock chamber, a first inlet buffer chamber, and a first inlet transition chamber, which are sequentially provided; the first outlet chamber group comprises a first outlet transition chamber, a first outlet buffer chamber and a first outlet lock chamber which are sequentially arranged;

the second inlet end chamber group comprises a second inlet end lock chamber, a second inlet end buffer chamber and a second inlet end transition chamber which are sequentially arranged; the second outlet chamber group comprises a second outlet transition chamber, a second outlet buffer chamber and a second outlet lock chamber which are sequentially arranged.

4. The vacuum coating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first transmission mode changing structure is provided in each of the chambers of the first and second inlet transition chambers to change the transmission mode of the carrier plate from the intermittent mode to the continuous mode;

and second transmission mode changing structures are arranged in the cavities of the first outlet end transition chamber and the second outlet end transition chamber respectively, so that the transmission mode of the carrier plate is changed from a continuous mode to a discontinuous mode.

5. The vacuum coating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein gate valve structures are provided at inlet ends of the first and second inlet lock chambers, between the first inlet lock chamber and the first inlet buffer chamber, between the first inlet buffer chamber and the first inlet transition chamber, between the second inlet lock chamber and the second inlet buffer chamber, and between the second inlet buffer chamber and the second inlet transition chamber; the door valve structure is connected with the main control unit;

Gate valve structures are arranged between the first outlet end transition chamber and the first outlet end buffer chamber, between the first outlet end buffer chamber and the first outlet end lock chamber, between the second outlet end transition chamber and the second outlet end buffer chamber, between the second outlet end buffer chamber and the second outlet end lock chamber and at the outlet ends of the first outlet end lock chamber and the second outlet end lock chamber; the gate valve structure is connected with the main control unit.

6. The vacuum coating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein first vacuum pump sets are respectively arranged at the chambers of the first and second inlet lock chambers, the first and second inlet buffer chambers, the first and second outlet buffer chambers and the first and second outlet lock chambers, and first vacuum gauge sets are respectively arranged in the chambers; the first vacuumizing pump set is connected with the corresponding chamber; the first vacuumizing pump set and the first vacuum gauge set are connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit controls the first vacuumizing pump set to work according to the measurement result of the first vacuum gauge set so as to vacuumize the cavity.

7. The vacuum coating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the vacuum degree in the chambers of the first inlet lock chamber, the first inlet buffer chamber and the first inlet transition chamber and the vacuum degree in the chambers of the second inlet lock chamber, the second inlet buffer chamber and the second inlet transition chamber are sequentially increased; the vacuum degree in the first outlet transition chamber, the first outlet buffer chamber and the first outlet lock chamber, and the vacuum degree in the second outlet transition chamber, the second outlet buffer chamber and the second outlet lock chamber are sequentially weakened.

8. The vacuum coating equipment according to claim 3, wherein the chambers of the first and second inlet buffer chambers are respectively provided with a heater for heating the carrier plate and the battery piece and a first thermometer for measuring real-time temperature, the heater and the first thermometer are connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit controls the heater to work according to the measurement result of the first thermometer; and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the cooling device comprises a main control unit and is characterized in that coolers for cooling a carrier plate and a battery piece and a second thermometer for measuring real-time temperature are arranged in cavities of the first outlet buffer chamber and the second outlet buffer chamber, the coolers and the second thermometer are connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit controls the coolers to work according to measurement results of the second thermometer.

9. The vacuum coating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a first atmosphere buffer structure is disposed in each of the chambers of the first and second inlet buffer chambers, the first atmosphere buffer structure being disposed at a gate valve of the near-inlet transition chamber;

the first atmosphere buffer structure is connected with an external compensation gas path system and is used for injecting atmosphere to reduce the fluctuation of the pressure of a subsequent process cavity when the door is opened;

A first gas mass flowmeter is arranged in the first atmosphere buffer structure and is used for measuring the amount of injected gas;

the first atmosphere buffer structure and the first gas mass flowmeter are connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit controls the operation of the atmosphere buffer structure according to the injected gas amount.

10. A vacuum plating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein,

a second atmosphere buffer structure is also arranged in the cavity of the outlet buffer chamber, and the second atmosphere buffer structure is arranged near a gate valve of the outlet transition chamber;

the second atmosphere buffer structure is connected with an external compensation gas path system and is used for injecting atmosphere to reduce the fluctuation of the pressure of a subsequent process cavity when the door is opened;

a second gas mass flowmeter is arranged in the second atmosphere buffer structure and is used for measuring the amount of injected gas;

the second atmosphere buffer structure and the second gas mass flowmeter are both connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit controls the second atmosphere buffer structure to work according to the injected gas quantity.

11. The vacuum coating equipment according to claim 3, wherein the first inlet transition chamber, the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber and the first outlet transition chamber share one or more groups of second vacuum pumping pump sets, one or more groups of second vacuum gauge sets are arranged in the chambers, and the second vacuum pumping pump sets are connected with the corresponding chambers; the second inlet end transition chamber and the RPD coating chamber, the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber and the chambers of the second outlet end transition chamber share one or two groups of third vacuumizing pump sets, one or two groups of third vacuum gauge sets are arranged in the chambers, and the third vacuumizing pump sets are connected with the corresponding chambers;

A fourth vacuumizing pump set is arranged at the chamber of the RPD coating chamber, and a fourth vacuum gauge set is arranged in the chamber; the fourth vacuumizing pump set is connected with the corresponding chamber;

the second vacuumizing pump set, the second vacuum gauge set, the third vacuumizing pump set, the third vacuum gauge set, the fourth vacuumizing pump set and the fourth vacuum gauge set are all connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit controls the corresponding vacuumizing pump sets to work according to measurement results of all the vacuum gauge sets to realize vacuumizing of the cavity.

12. The vacuum coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one or more process gas path systems containing gas mass flow meters are respectively provided in the first PVD magnetron sputtering chamber, the RPD magnetron sputtering chamber and the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber, the gas outlets of the process gas path systems are arranged in the corresponding chambers, the process gas path systems and the gas mass flow meters arranged therein are connected with the main control unit, and the main control unit sends out instructions to control the process gas path systems to inject process atmosphere according to the measurement results of the gas mass flow meters;

And a gas isolation cavity is arranged between the RPD coating cavity and the second PVD magnetron sputtering chamber.

13. A vacuum coating system comprising a vacuum coating apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12.