EP2386059A1 - A system and method for thin film quality assurance - Google Patents

A system and method for thin film quality assurance

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Publication number
EP2386059A1
EP2386059A1 EP09810749A EP09810749A EP2386059A1 EP 2386059 A1 EP2386059 A1 EP 2386059A1 EP 09810749 A EP09810749 A EP 09810749A EP 09810749 A EP09810749 A EP 09810749A EP 2386059 A1 EP2386059 A1 EP 2386059A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
thin film
low
unit
resolution scanning
high resolution
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP09810749A
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Inventor
Noam Noy
Ariel Lipson
Moshe Finarov
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Brightview Systems Ltd
Original Assignee
Brightview Systems Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Brightview Systems Ltd filed Critical Brightview Systems Ltd
Publication of EP2386059A1 publication Critical patent/EP2386059A1/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N21/00—Investigating or analysing materials by the use of optical means, i.e. using sub-millimetre waves, infrared, visible or ultraviolet light
    • G01N21/84—Systems specially adapted for particular applications
    • G01N21/8422—Investigating thin films, e.g. matrix isolation method
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02S—GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER BY CONVERSION OF INFRARED RADIATION, VISIBLE LIGHT OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, e.g. USING PHOTOVOLTAIC [PV] MODULES
    • H02S50/00—Monitoring or testing of PV systems, e.g. load balancing or fault identification
    • H02S50/10—Testing of PV devices, e.g. of PV modules or single PV cells
    • H02S50/15—Testing of PV devices, e.g. of PV modules or single PV cells using optical means, e.g. using electroluminescence
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
    • Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy

Definitions

  • the present apparatus and method relate generally to quality control of photovoltaic solar panels and in particular to the area of in-line detection and classification of production defects that could be present in some of the coating layers.
  • Thin Film (TF) solar panels are typically large size substrates having dimensions of few meters coated by layers of different materials having a high degree of surface uniformity.
  • the layers are produced by sputtering, by electrolytic deposition, or other known in the art processes suitable for coating of the substrate by a desired material.
  • the material may be metal, semiconductor, or organic material and the coating may be deposited on a flexible or rigid substrate.
  • the coating may be transparent, translucent, opaque or reflective layer of material.
  • the TF layer should be homogeneous and free of defects such as pinholes, bumps, dish downs, scratches, foreign particles and inclusion, etc.
  • the scribe lines should have well defined location, width, depth, and straight edges.
  • Thin film coating or deposition by any one of the known techniques is a relatively rapid process where tens of meters per hour of a web or rigid substrate are coated in a continuous coating process. Coating quality assurance and control that detects coating defects and classifies them should be a reliable process performed at the production speed.
  • methods that utilize a plurality of light sources with different properties such as monochromatic or polychromatic light, polarization, illuminating period duration, incidence angle, and others have been developed.
  • the defect detection reliability may be further increased by capturing the same thin film image or surface area at different resolutions and analyzing combined images. The images are captured through an image scanning process at a constant resolution.
  • US provisional application 61/040,914 to the same assignee discloses a high-speed system for in-line inspection of TF photovoltaic layers.
  • the system uses a plurality of different illumination sources illuminating a line with a length equal or greater than full width of the thin film layer and a plurality of cameras operating at the same resolution.
  • the cameras capture simultaneously in a single path the defects that may be present in the illuminated line on the film.
  • Such system performs complete TF quality control at the TF production line speed. Although the system captures almost all of the defects at the speed of the production line, the defect detection reliability may be further improved.
  • the present document discloses a high speed high resolution photovoltaic thin film inspection system with improved defect detection and classification reliability.
  • a system that can be integrated in a thin film production line without affecting the thin panel production speed.
  • perspective image or "image frame” means one of the pluralities of perspective images combined into the multiperspective image.
  • combined image means an image generated by a manipulation of two or more perspective images.
  • the images may be captured at different resolution, illumination, and other image characterization parameters
  • time slice as used in the present disclosure means time in the course of which one image frame of a perspective image is exposed to a selected illumination.
  • illumination or light source type as used in the present disclosure means the type of the source used such as a bright field source or a dark field source and transmission or reflection source type. Each of the light sources may emit light such as Infra Red, Red, and
  • illumination unit means a unit including one or more illumination sources.
  • Defect "classification” is a process of association of defects detected during the TF layer inspection to predermined defect types.
  • thin film quality assurance includes detection and classification of defects in a continuously moving thin film, measurement of parameters of such features like scribe lines and other others.
  • movement or “translation” means relative movement between the imaging units and the thin film.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the first exemplary embodiment of the present system for thin film quality assurance.
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a second exemplary embodiment of the present system for thin film quality assurance.
  • Figs. 3A - 3C are schematic illustrations of some exemplary embodiments of the illumination unit of the present system for thin film quality assurance.
  • Figs. 4A — 4C are schematic illustrations of exemplary optical layouts showing the size of the image frame captured by a split field of view scanning imaging unit.
  • Fig. 5 is a schematic representation of the exemplary MPI scanning modes.
  • Fig. 6 is a schematic representation of the exemplary MPI scanning mode with the field of view concentrating on the region of interest.
  • FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of the auto-focusing method of the imaging units of the present system for thin film quality assurance.
  • Fig. 8 is a schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of the thin film movement speed adaptation or buffering unit.
  • Fig. 9 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a continuous thin film quality control or assurance process by the present system.
  • Fig. 10 is a schematic illustration of scribe lines and solar cells formed on the thin film.
  • a carriage 120 reciprocates on a bridge type support 126 across the web or rigid substrate in a second direction, shown by arrow 124.
  • the second direction is typically, perpendicular to the first direction.
  • Attached to the carriage 120 are a low-resolution scanning imaging unit 132 such as a CCD camera, a high-resolution scanning imaging unit 136 such as another suitable CCD camera, and one or more illumination units 140.
  • the reciprocating movement of carriage 120 displaces across the width of the thin film 104 low resolution 132 and high resolution 136 scanning imaging units. These movements combined with the thin film 1 10 movement 112 enable the low resolution 132 and high-resolution 136 scanning imaging units to reach any location on thin film 104.
  • Low-resolution scanning imaging unit 132 is configured to capture one or more of relatively large low-resolution perspective images or image frames 134 of a segment or area of the thin film 104 and detect in the captured perspective image frames of the thin film 104 production defects 144 locations.
  • Low-resolution scanning imaging unit 132 may have a built- in controller (not shown) that may determine the location of the detected defects 144, analyze the defects, classify if requested, the detected defects 144, and establish severity of these defects.
  • a controller 150 may be a separate unit communicating with all units of system 100 and controlling all system 100 operation.
  • the controller may govern operation of the low-resolution imaging unit and communicate to high-resolution scanning imaging unit 136 locations of the detected defects in the captured perspective low-resolution image frames 134, as well as the severity of the defects.
  • a number of additional instruments (not shown) that could be required for performing additional quality assurance and metrology tasks may be assembled into the low-resolution scanning imaging unit 132 or the high resolution imaging unit 136. Such instruments may be a spectrophotometer, an ellipsometer, Eddy current probes, and others. Alternatively, the listed instruments may operate as independent units and have individual drives enabling their scanning motion on bridge 126.
  • High-resolution scanning imaging unit 136 is adapted to receive locations of the defects and their severity from low-resolution scanning imaging unit 132.
  • Unit 136 typically captures one or more high-resolution images of locations containing thin film defects 144 communicated by low-resolution unit 132.
  • Unit 136 may capture a complete image of the defect or a section of the defect, and classify the defect.
  • Operating parameters and control of the high-resolution imaging unit 136 and of system 100 may be set by a built-in controller, or by a common with the low-resolution imaging unit controller 150, to operate in a multi- perspective or conventional mode. Controller 150 may set additional operation parameters of the high resolution imaging unit. For example, following defect 144 analyses controller may communicate the defect 144 severity to an upstream 116 or downstream 148 production units that may be set to reduce or eliminate the defect or its influence on the thin film performance.
  • the classification unit 136 may have an additional controlled freedom of movement in a direction 148 generally parallel to the first direction 1 12 and about perpendicular to the carriage 120 movement direction 124.
  • the relative movement between thin film 104 and carriage 120, with mounted on it imaging units enables each of the imaging units to reach every desired location on the thin film 104 and in particular enables high resolution imaging unit 136 to address every defect 144 located inside the low-resolution image frame.
  • the low-resolution scanning image unit 132 and the high- resolution scanning image unit 136 may be two separate units, although mounted on the same bridge 126 and translated or moved by a common carriage 120.
  • Fig. 2 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of system 100 where the low-resolution scanning image unit 132 and the high-resolution scanning image unit 136 may be two separate units mounted on two separate bridges 204 and 208 and their movement in the direction 126 is synchronized electronically.
  • illumination units 312 and 314 may be a static assembly of a plurality of light sources 312 and 314 extending along one or both sides of bridge 126 (or 204 and 208) and forming on the thin film 104 one or more illuminated strips 316 and 318.
  • the length of strips 316 and 318 (The width of the TF is perpendicular to the drawing plane.) may be equal or exceed the width of the thin film 104 being illuminated.
  • Arrows 324 schematically illustrate the illumination flux generated by illumination sources 312 and 314 and arrows 328 schematically illustrate the field of view of the low-resolution 132 and high-resolution 136 imaging units.
  • beam combining elements such as for example, fiber optics bundles configured to image the scanned images on different segments of the sensor may also enable split image having similar or different resolution.
  • Time sharing schemes where objectives with different magnification form high and low resolution images on the same or different area of the imaging unit CCD at different times are possible.
  • the speed of the relative movement between the low-resolution scanning unit, high- resolution scanning unit, and thin film is such that it enables conducting all of the processes as concurrent processes performed in a single scanning path. Further to this, all of the processes are performed at the speed of the continuously moving thin film.
  • the system and the method disclosed enable optimal detection and classification of defects in a continuously moving thin film without affecting the film movement speed.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Mathematical Physics (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
  • Biochemistry (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Immunology (AREA)
  • Pathology (AREA)
  • Investigating Materials By The Use Of Optical Means Adapted For Particular Applications (AREA)

Abstract

A method of a photovoltaic panel (104) quality control, said method comprising: enabling a relative movement in at least one direction (112) between the photovoltaic panel (104) and a low-resolution scanning imaging unit (132) and capturing successive two-dimensional frames of the scanned area; analyzing the aquired image frames for presence of thin film production defects (144) and communicating to a high resolution image scanning unit (136) locations of said production defects; enabling a relative movement (148) between the photovoltaic panel and the high resolution scanning unit said, movement following the low-resolution unit movement and at least one additional direction parallel to the photovoltaic panel movement direction to aquire and classify the thin film production defects communicated by the low resolution scanning unit; and wherein the low and high resolution scanning units move simultaneously with the same speed (124) across the photovoltaic panel and the speed of the high resolution scanning unit moving in the direction parallel to the thin film movement direction is different from the speed at which the photovoltaic panel moves.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THIN FILM QUALITY ASSURANCE
TECHNOLOGY FIELD
[001] The present apparatus and method relate generally to quality control of photovoltaic solar panels and in particular to the area of in-line detection and classification of production defects that could be present in some of the coating layers.
BACKGROUND
[002] Thin Film (TF) solar panels are typically large size substrates having dimensions of few meters coated by layers of different materials having a high degree of surface uniformity. The layers are produced by sputtering, by electrolytic deposition, or other known in the art processes suitable for coating of the substrate by a desired material. The material may be metal, semiconductor, or organic material and the coating may be deposited on a flexible or rigid substrate. The coating may be transparent, translucent, opaque or reflective layer of material.
[003] In order to ensure proper functionality, the TF layer should be homogeneous and free of defects such as pinholes, bumps, dish downs, scratches, foreign particles and inclusion, etc. The scribe lines should have well defined location, width, depth, and straight edges. A range of complicated production processes and systems that combine partially integrated and stand alone material deposition systems, optical inspection systems, metrology systems, repair devices, etc., are typically used to ensure the integrity of the TF layer or locate the defects and remove the defective sections of the material from the process.
[004] Thin film coating or deposition by any one of the known techniques is a relatively rapid process where tens of meters per hour of a web or rigid substrate are coated in a continuous coating process. Coating quality assurance and control that detects coating defects and classifies them should be a reliable process performed at the production speed. In order to increase the defect detection reliability, methods that utilize a plurality of light sources with different properties such as monochromatic or polychromatic light, polarization, illuminating period duration, incidence angle, and others have been developed. The defect detection reliability may be further increased by capturing the same thin film image or surface area at different resolutions and analyzing combined images. The images are captured through an image scanning process at a constant resolution. At present, scanning at two resolutions requires at least one additional scanning path and precludes use of such solutions for in-line thin film quality assurance, since the additional pass will interrupt the continuous TF coating deposition process. There is a difference in the severity of the thin film defects. Some of the defects may be ignored, since their size and characteristics do not affect much thin film performance; others may make use of certain thin film sections impractical.
[005] US provisional application 61/040,914 to the same assignee discloses a high-speed system for in-line inspection of TF photovoltaic layers. The system uses a plurality of different illumination sources illuminating a line with a length equal or greater than full width of the thin film layer and a plurality of cameras operating at the same resolution. The cameras capture simultaneously in a single path the defects that may be present in the illuminated line on the film. Such system performs complete TF quality control at the TF production line speed. Although the system captures almost all of the defects at the speed of the production line, the defect detection reliability may be further improved.
[006] The present document discloses a high speed high resolution photovoltaic thin film inspection system with improved defect detection and classification reliability. A system that can be integrated in a thin film production line without affecting the thin panel production speed.
GLOSSARY
[007] "Multiperspective imaging" (MPl) as used in the present disclosure means a technique that combines what is seen from multiple perspective or viewpoints into a single image. The multiperspective images can preserve and can depict, within a single context, details of an image that are simultaneously inaccessible from a single view, yet easily interpretable by a viewer or a computer.
[008] The term "perspective image" or "image frame" means one of the pluralities of perspective images combined into the multiperspective image.
[009] [0010] The term "combined image" as used in the present disclosure means an image generated by a manipulation of two or more perspective images. The images may be captured at different resolution, illumination, and other image characterization parameters [0011] The term "time slice" as used in the present disclosure means time in the course of which one image frame of a perspective image is exposed to a selected illumination. [0012] The term "illumination or light source type" as used in the present disclosure means the type of the source used such as a bright field source or a dark field source and transmission or reflection source type. Each of the light sources may emit light such as Infra Red, Red, and
Green. Blue or UV radiation or a mix of them. [0013] The term "illumination unit" as used in the present disclosure means a unit including one or more illumination sources. [0014] Defect "classification" is a process of association of defects detected during the TF layer inspection to predermined defect types. [0015] The term "thin film quality assurance" includes detection and classification of defects in a continuously moving thin film, measurement of parameters of such features like scribe lines and other others. [0016] The term "movement" or "translation" means relative movement between the imaging units and the thin film.
BRIEF LIST OF DRAWINGS
[0017] For a better understanding of the system and the method, reference is made to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the method.
[0018] Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of the first exemplary embodiment of the present system for thin film quality assurance.
[0019] Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of a second exemplary embodiment of the present system for thin film quality assurance. - A - [0020] Figs. 3A - 3C are schematic illustrations of some exemplary embodiments of the illumination unit of the present system for thin film quality assurance. [0021] Figs. 4A — 4C are schematic illustrations of exemplary optical layouts showing the size of the image frame captured by a split field of view scanning imaging unit. [0022] Fig. 5 is a schematic representation of the exemplary MPI scanning modes. [0023] Fig. 6 is a schematic representation of the exemplary MPI scanning mode with the field of view concentrating on the region of interest. [0024] Fig. 7 is a schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of the auto-focusing method of the imaging units of the present system for thin film quality assurance. [0025] Fig. 8 is a schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of the thin film movement speed adaptation or buffering unit. [0026] Fig. 9 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a continuous thin film quality control or assurance process by the present system. [0027] Fig. 10 is a schematic illustration of scribe lines and solar cells formed on the thin film.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
[0028] In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof and wherein like reference numerals denote like elements through the several views. The spatial terminology describing orientation of different system units such as "above", "below", "up", "down", "left" etc. is related to the drawings only. Each of the units of the system may be operated in any spatial orientation.
[0029] Reference is made to Fig. 1, which is the first exemplary embodiment of the present system for in-line continuously moving thin film quality assurance. System 100 includes a thin film 104 movement unit, shown as a support 110 continuously moving thin film 104 supplied by an upstream production units 116. Thin film 104 may coat a flexible or rigid substrate, precut sheets or continuous web 108 material. Accordingly, the thin film movement unit 1 10 may be configured to support 110 a rigid or flexible substrate coated by a thin film or web of flexible substrate coated by a thin film. Thin film typically moves in the first direction indicated by arrow 112. This direction may coincide with the longest thin film dimension or along the direction in which the web moves, although in some embodiments, where the quality of a sheet cut or rigid substrate is controlled, the substrate may move in the direction of the short dimension.
[0030] A carriage 120 reciprocates on a bridge type support 126 across the web or rigid substrate in a second direction, shown by arrow 124. The second direction is typically, perpendicular to the first direction. Attached to the carriage 120 are a low-resolution scanning imaging unit 132 such as a CCD camera, a high-resolution scanning imaging unit 136 such as another suitable CCD camera, and one or more illumination units 140. The reciprocating movement of carriage 120 displaces across the width of the thin film 104 low resolution 132 and high resolution 136 scanning imaging units. These movements combined with the thin film 1 10 movement 112 enable the low resolution 132 and high-resolution 136 scanning imaging units to reach any location on thin film 104.
[0031] Low-resolution scanning imaging unit 132 is configured to capture one or more of relatively large low-resolution perspective images or image frames 134 of a segment or area of the thin film 104 and detect in the captured perspective image frames of the thin film 104 production defects 144 locations. Low-resolution scanning imaging unit 132 may have a built- in controller (not shown) that may determine the location of the detected defects 144, analyze the defects, classify if requested, the detected defects 144, and establish severity of these defects. Alternatively, a controller 150 may be a separate unit communicating with all units of system 100 and controlling all system 100 operation. The controller may govern operation of the low-resolution imaging unit and communicate to high-resolution scanning imaging unit 136 locations of the detected defects in the captured perspective low-resolution image frames 134, as well as the severity of the defects. A number of additional instruments (not shown) that could be required for performing additional quality assurance and metrology tasks may be assembled into the low-resolution scanning imaging unit 132 or the high resolution imaging unit 136. Such instruments may be a spectrophotometer, an ellipsometer, Eddy current probes, and others. Alternatively, the listed instruments may operate as independent units and have individual drives enabling their scanning motion on bridge 126.
[0032] High-resolution scanning imaging unit 136 is adapted to receive locations of the defects and their severity from low-resolution scanning imaging unit 132. Unit 136 typically captures one or more high-resolution images of locations containing thin film defects 144 communicated by low-resolution unit 132. Unit 136 may capture a complete image of the defect or a section of the defect, and classify the defect. Operating parameters and control of the high-resolution imaging unit 136 and of system 100 may be set by a built-in controller, or by a common with the low-resolution imaging unit controller 150, to operate in a multi- perspective or conventional mode. Controller 150 may set additional operation parameters of the high resolution imaging unit. For example, following defect 144 analyses controller may communicate the defect 144 severity to an upstream 116 or downstream 148 production units that may be set to reduce or eliminate the defect or its influence on the thin film performance.
[0033] The low-resolution scanning image unit 132 operates at a resolution substantially lower than the high-resolution scanning image unit 136 operates and has a field of view (FOV) substantially larger than the field of view of the low-resolution scanning image unit. For example, the high-resolution unit may operate at a resolution that is two times higher than that of the low-resolution unit, or ten times higher, or even fifty times higher than that of the low-resolution unit. Proper selection of the resolutions should enable sufficient throughput and desired defect detection and classification accuracy. Practical testing indicates that operating the high-resolution unit at resolutions five to fifteen times higher than the low- resolution unit does, results in accuracy sufficient for most of the thin film quality control and assurance tasks. Because of the differences in the resolution and FOV, each of the units 132 and 136 at a similar bridge movement scans a different size of the thin film area.
[0034] The role of the low-resolution image unit 132 is to detect a defect, analyze it, classify it if requested, and communicate to the high resolution scanning image unit 136. The role of the high-resolution image unit 136 is to further analyze and classify the detected defects not adequately processed by the low-resolution unit 132. The low-resolution scanning image unit 132 and the high-resolution scanning image unit 136 operate simultaneously and in a synchronous mode. The synchronous mode of operation may be achieved by mounting both imaging units 132 and 136 on the same moving carriage 120 or by mounting the imaging units 132 and 136 on different carriages (Fig 2) and synchronizing electronically their movement. In order to adjust for the differences in the size of the scanned area between the low-resolution 132 and the high resolution or classification unit 136, the classification unit 136 may have an additional controlled freedom of movement in a direction 148 generally parallel to the first direction 1 12 and about perpendicular to the carriage 120 movement direction 124. The relative movement between thin film 104 and carriage 120, with mounted on it imaging units enables each of the imaging units to reach every desired location on the thin film 104 and in particular enables high resolution imaging unit 136 to address every defect 144 located inside the low-resolution image frame.
[0035] As illustrated in Fig. 1 the low-resolution scanning image unit 132 and the high- resolution scanning image unit 136 may be two separate units, although mounted on the same bridge 126 and translated or moved by a common carriage 120. Fig. 2 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of system 100 where the low-resolution scanning image unit 132 and the high-resolution scanning image unit 136 may be two separate units mounted on two separate bridges 204 and 208 and their movement in the direction 126 is synchronized electronically.
[0036] One or more illumination units 140 (shown in phantom lines) illuminating thin film 104 may be configured to illuminate a surface area larger or equal to the combined scanning area of the low-resolution and high resolution imaging units. Alternatively, illumination units 140 may provide dedicated illumination to thin film 104 surfaces corresponding to the fields of view of the low-resolution imaging unit 132 and the high resolution imaging unit 136. Illumination units 140 generally, are similar to the illumination units disclosed in the Provisional Patent Application 61/040,914 to the same assignee, and may be configured to include a number of illumination types such as bright field or dark field illumination, reflective or transparent illumination, or a combination of them. The radiation sources may be incandescent or fluorescent lamps, LEDs, laser diodes, lasers, or a combination of them. All illumination units illuminate either sequentially or concurrently the respective surface areas or image frames 134 and 138 of thin film 104 (Fig. 1). Each of the illumination units may operate in a continuous or pulse mode. It is necessary to mention that the same type of illumination unit may be used to illuminate the image from different directions, at different incident angles, and more than one illumination unit type may illuminate the image by illumination having different parameters such as wavelength, polarization, illumination duration and other illumination parameters.
[0037] Fig. 3 is a schematic illustration of some additional embodiments of the illumination unit of the present system for thin film quality assurance. One or more identical or adapted to illuminate the field of view of respective imaging units illumination units 300 may be associated with carriage 120 and be translated or move with it relative to thin film 104. For better utilization of illumination in case of thin films 104 deposited on transparent substrates 108, one or more static retro reflectors 304 and 308 extending across a length equal or longer than the width of the inspected thin film 104 may be used. The retro reflectors may be of different types such as conventional prisms or micro and nano material coatings enabling high reflection values of the incident radiation. Carriage 120 typically reciprocates with respect to the inspected thin film in a second direction, which is about, perpendicular to the thin film movement direction 112 (Fig. 1). Retro reflectors 304 and 308 should be such as to enable homogenous illumination conditions across the movement of the reciprocating carriage 120 and at each of the scanned thin film 104 image perspectives.
[0038] In another embodiment (Fig. 3B) , illumination units 312 and 314 may be a static assembly of a plurality of light sources 312 and 314 extending along one or both sides of bridge 126 (or 204 and 208) and forming on the thin film 104 one or more illuminated strips 316 and 318. The length of strips 316 and 318 (The width of the TF is perpendicular to the drawing plane.) may be equal or exceed the width of the thin film 104 being illuminated. Arrows 324 schematically illustrate the illumination flux generated by illumination sources 312 and 314 and arrows 328 schematically illustrate the field of view of the low-resolution 132 and high-resolution 136 imaging units.
[0039] Figure 3C is a schematic illustration of a further exemplary embodiment of the illumination unit of the present system adapted to illuminate thin film 104 deposited on a rigid transparent substrate 308 such as for example, glass. The light emitted by illumination units 340 and 344 is transmitted through substrate 308 and thin film 104 reflects it back. Respective imaging units 132 and 136 (Fig. 1) capture the reflected light (For the simplicity of the explanation, the refraction in substrate 308 is neglected.). Illumination units 340 and 344 may be rigidly coupled to respective imaging units 132 and 136 and move with them or be fixed units illuminating strips on the thin layer 104. The thin layer 104 moves relative to imaging units 132 and 136 in the direction indicated by arrow 312. Imaging units 132 and 136 move on bridge or guide350 relative to thin film 104, generally in a direction perpendicular to direction marked by arrow 312. High-resolution imaging unit 136 has an additional degree of freedom and may move on a guide 360 in a direction generally parallel to direction indicated by arrow 312. [0040] Fig. 4A is a schematic illustration of another exemplary embodiment of the optical layout of imaging units enabling scanning of a larger field of view than the one scanned by low-resolution 132 and high-resolution 136 imaging units of Fig. 1. A prism or an assembly of reflectors 400 may be used to split the field of view of for example, low resolution imaging unit 404 and scan simultaneously image frames 408 and 412 having a width 416 (Fig. 4B and 4C) larger than the width of frame 420 of the low resolution imaging unit 132 of Fig. 1. Scanning of a wider strip enables better utilization of imaging unit 404 and in particular, of the unit sensor such as a Charge Coupled Device (CCD). Figs. 4B and 4C illustrate superimposed fields of view 420 of the embodiment of imaging units of Fig. 1, shown in phantom lines, and the Fields of view 424 of the embodiment of imaging units of Fig. 4A. Image frames 408 and 412 may have a different or equal amount of pixels. Numeral 416 mark combined FOV of the split image and numeral 410 marks optical pass folding mirrors.
[0041] Use of beam combining elements such as for example, fiber optics bundles configured to image the scanned images on different segments of the sensor may also enable split image having similar or different resolution. Time sharing schemes, where objectives with different magnification form high and low resolution images on the same or different area of the imaging unit CCD at different times are possible.
[0042] System 100 operates in a MultiPerspective Image mode (MPI) and as shown in Fig. 5 may capture or grab overlapping perspective images or frames 504, 508, 512, and so on. The size of the grabbed or captured image frame depends on the speed with which the camera moves and on the field of view of the camera. In one exemplary embodiment (Fig. 5A), each of the frames 504, 508, 512 and so on, is grabbed as a separate image frame and the overlapping sections a, b, and c of the images are captured multiple times For example, the overlapping segments a, b, and c of images 504, 508, and 512 on Fig. 5A are captured twice. In another exemplary embodiment illustrated in Figure 5B the overlapping segments of images 516, 520, and 524 are combined such that the overlapping segment ab of image 504 is used in image 508. In a similar way, the overlapping segment be of image 508 is used in image 512. The utilization of the common to the frames information enables faster multiple frames capture, since instead of complete image frame only the additional sections of the next frame should be captured. The size of the grabbed frame depends on the speed with which the unit moves and on the field of view of the unit or the camera, which is a component of the imaging unit.
[0043] When the illumination is repeated in a predetermined sequence, for example, a plurality of wavelengths, λi, λ2, and λ3 are used to illuminate the scanned frames 504, 508, and 512, each of sub-frames may be recorded in three different perspectives. The time of a perspective image capture would typically correspond to one time slice or time sufficient for a perspective image capture.
[0044] In some instances the speed of the moving on the bridge 126 low-resolution 132 and high-resolution 136 (Fig. 1) imaging units exceeds the frame rate of the imaging units and does not support acquisition of multiple full size frames 608 and 614 (Fig. 6) at a rate adequate for the MPI operation mode. In order to avoid such situation, it is possible to select a smaller region of interest (ROI) for example, regions 616 and 620, containing a defect 624 and concentrating the FOV on the region of interest. Reduction in the frame size enables frame rate increase. In addition it is possible to select sensors characterized by the highest frame rate (Currently, CMOS type sensors enable highest frame rate.). A new ROI is established matching the smaller size frames acquisition rate and high movement speed of the imaging unit, since defect 624 moves faster out of the smaller FOV. Numeral 612 marks the direction of imaging units advance.
[0045] Substrate 108 coated by thin film 104 may have uneven relief and adversely affect the quality of the captured by imaging units image frames. Fig. 7 is a schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of the auto-focusing method of the imaging units of the present system for thin film quality assurance. The method enables continuous adjustment of the distance 704 between image sensor 700 (and objective lens) to substrate 104 maintaining the image sharpness. The MPI imaging method uses a reduced ROI and the imaging units 132 and 136 (Fig. 1) utilize a relatively small area of sensor 700. Intentional distortion of the FOV of the imaging units by a slight tilt 708 of sensor 700 places different areas of the sensor at different focal distances for each of the image planes. The relative movement between sensor 700 (or imaging units) and thin film 104 shown by arrow 1 12 causes any point 716 on thin film 104 to be translated from section I of sensor 700 to section II of sensor 700. In course of the translation, the image of point 716 would inevitably pass through the best focal plane location that may be determined by proper image processing. Consequently, it is possible to . - - H - select the ROI at an area on the sensor that is at the best focal plane, schematically shown by intersection of line 704 with sensor 704 plane, where the image is formed.
[0046] System 100 (Fig. 1) may control the quality of thin film 104 moving at a constant of variable speed and in particular thin film coated on a web substrate. Generally, the coating speed may exceed the image frames acquisition rate of at least one imaging unit, or require more than one imaging unit for in-line thin film 104 quality control. System 100 may adapt the speed to a level enabling in-line thin film 104 quality control by one imaging unit. The speed change may be intentional or automatic and in extreme cases, the movement of the thin film may be even "frozen" for a certain period. Fig. 8 shows a thin film movement speed adaptation or buffering unit 800, which is an assembly of fixed 804 and floating platens 808 mounted on a platen stand 812 loading and supplying a web substrate 816 into system 100 from located upstream production modules 1 16. A type of a "dancer platen" which is a floating platen 808 operating in conjunction with a brake (not shown) on the platen stand 812, establishes control of the web 816 speed as it unwinds from the supply roll 824 and enters the system 100. Platen 808 may be displaced in the stand 812 as shown by arrow 820 such that web 816 wraps around the dancer platen, which moves up and down with respect to the stand 812 and applies pressure to the moving, web 816. The up and down movement of the dancer platen may control a brake (not shown) on the platen stand 812. If the web 816 has to be fed at a lower speed, the dancer platen 808 may be moved down, which automatically applies a brake to the platen, slowing the web 816 feed and generating a thin film buffer. Thus by changing the distance between the fixed and floating platens the thin film movement speeds may be changed. Since the speed of the film generally, remains the same along the film feed path a similar or other arrangement may be employed at the output section of system 100 and upstream 1 16 and down stream 148 production units. A number of thin film buffering units may be sequentially arranged providing a broader range of web 816 speed changes. In Fig. 8 thin film coated substrate 816 is supplied from a roll 824. Alternatively, substrate web 816 may be supplied directly from the upstream production unit 1 16 (Fig. 1).
[0047] System 100 may be employed for detection and classification of defects in a continuously moving thin film 104 (Fig. 1), providing data to be employed in thin film 104 quality control. The quality control takes place only when there is a relative movement of the thin film 104 or imaging units 132 and 136 with respect to each other. In course of the thin film 104 movements in the direction indicated by arrow 112, the low 132 and high-resolution 136 scanning imaging units and associated with them illumination sources 140 move in a reciprocating scanning movement, as shown by arrow 124 relative to the thin film 104.
[0048] Thin film typically moves along the longest dimension of the thin film 104 for example, along the direction of the web movement, where the imaging units 132 and 136 move in a direction generally perpendicular to the direction 1 12 of the thin film 104 movements. It should be noted that in some cases, particularly in quality control of sheet cut substrates or rigid substrate; the substrate may be located with its longest dimension oriented about parallel to bridge 126 (or 204 and 208). Low-resolution scanning imaging unit 132 is capturing a plurality of perspectives of successive two-dimensional image frames of the scanned area of the thin film 104. The controller of the low-resolution unit or a common controller 150 analyzes the scanned image frames for presence of thin film 104 production defects 144 and communicates to the high-resolution scanning unit locations of the detected production defects.
[0049] Low-resolution scanning imaging unit 132 may perform additional functions such as for example; determining the amount of production defects and classifying their severity per square unit of the thin film. The amount of production defects per square unit of the thin film amount may serve as a production quality indicator. Low resolution imaging unit 132 may scan for example with a resolution of about 30 micron. At this resolution, a large number of thin film 104 defects 144 may be reliably classified. When low-resolution unit 132 performs the process of classifying thin film 104 defects 144 a smaller amount of not classified or suspicious defects is directed for classification by the high-resolution unit 136 that may operate at a resolution of for example, 6 micron or less. This allows further improving the throughput of system 100 or similar system.
[0050] The movement of the high-resolution scanning unit 136 is synchronized with the movement of the low resolution scanning unit 132. Both scanning units concurrently scan the thin film 104 at a high and low resolution and both scanning units are moving in the same second direction perpendicular to the first direction or direction in which the thin film 104 moves. The low-resolution scanning unit 132 scans a segment of an image earlier than the high-resolution scanning unit 136 scans the same segment. There is a difference in the location and the field of view of the low and high-resolution scanning units. The defects detected by the low-resolution unit 132 may be spread across the field of view of the low- resolution unit 132, which is greater than the field of view of the high-resolution unit 136. In order to compensate for this difference the high-resolution unit 136 has an additional freedom of movement in the direction 148 (Fig. 1) generally parallel to the first direction indicated by arrow 112 and unit 132 may be located such as to be able of acquiring almost all of the defects 144 communicated by the low resolution scanning unit 132. The speed of the high-resolution scanning unit 136 moving in the first direction is different from the speed at which the thin film (photovoltaic panel) moves. The speed is selected such as to enable the high-resolution unit to return to the nominal position for example, at the lower corner of the low-resolution unit field of view to start the next scan. (The nominal position may be defined for example, as a common corner of the overlapped low-resolution unit field of view and the high-resolution unit field of view.) Accordingly, the high-resolution unit may move in a type of saw tooth movement.
[0051] Continuous relative movement between thin film 104 (Fig. 1) and imaging units 132 and 136 may be achieved by moving thin film 104 for example in the direction indicated by arrow 1 12 or by moving imaging units 132 and 136 on bridge 126 in the direction of arrow 124, or performing both of the movements simultaneously. Fig. 9 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a continuous thin film quality control or assurance process by the present system. Continuous movement of both imaging units 132 and 136 in the direction of arrow 124 generates a condition where the first image frame 904-1 and the last image frame 904-N of the same scan are offset or shifted with respect to each other in the direction parallel to the direction 1 12 of thin film 104 advance. In order to compensate for this shift at the end of a scan, bridge 126 has a mechanism configured to perform an additional movement as indicated by arrow 910 and locate itself in a position 126-1 such that the first frame 904-1 1 of the next scan will butt or overlap on a desired proportion of the earlier scanned image frame 904-1. This saw tooth type movement is configured such that no scanned areas of the thin film 104 will be left.
[0052] The controller of the high-resolution unit 136, which may be a common with the low- resolution unit 132 controller or a general system 100 controller 150 (Fig. 1), classifies the acquired thin film 104 production defects 144 and communicates them to the upstream 1 16 or down stream 148 located production units. [0053] The low resolution or detection unit operates according to an algorithm enabling selection of the best position for the classification unit location. Since the detection unit detects the potential defects in the thin film before the high-resolution or the classification unit scans the area (at least one scan ahead), there is sufficient time to select the best position for the classification unit and communicate this position to the classification or high-resolution unit. In the context of the present disclosure, best position could mean, for example, the position ensuring that the classification unit will pass through the most important suspicious defects.
[0054] Capture of the low-resolution image and the high-resolution image is performed concurrently and at the same scanning speed. There may be more than one type of illumination source employed to illuminate the scanned perspective image with each source having different parameters. The illumination source parameters may be such as wavelength, polarization, illumination duration, illumination direction, angle of incidence, and power.
[0055] The speed of the relative movement between the low-resolution scanning unit, high- resolution scanning unit, and thin film is such that it enables conducting all of the processes as concurrent processes performed in a single scanning path. Further to this, all of the processes are performed at the speed of the continuously moving thin film.
[0056] System 100 is capable of performing metrology tasks such as mapping thin film attributes, measuring film thickness, film non-homogeneity, etc., and conveys the acquired metrology data to a high resolution system for further metrology oriented processing.
[0057] The method is applicable to quality control or quality assurance of scribe lines 1000 and individual solar cells 1008 in a continuously moving thin film. Fig. 10 is a schematic illustration of scribe lines and solar cells formed on the thin film. The process is similar to the one described above. Initially a low-resolution image of a plurality of perspectives of large image areas including the scribe lines 1000 to be controlled is captured. The captured perspective images are combined in a single image that is analyzed in order to identify the scribe line presence and defects detection. The features of interest are scribe line width, presence of scribe line shorts, location of scribe lines sections formation of which caused damage to the underlying substrate, scribe line residues, parallelism of the scribe line walls, and others. [0058] Upon detection and identification of the scribe line location and defects that may be present, the information is communicated to a high-resolution imaging unit adapted to receive the defect location. The high-resolution imaging unit may capture a plurality of perspectives of the scribe line at a resolution substantially higher than the low resolution unit captures. The captured images are used for scribe line defects classification. All of the processes described are concurrent processes performed in a single scanning path and all of the described earlier analyses and detection methods are mutatis mutandis applicable to the scribe line defects analyses. A similar process may be applied to single solar cell 1008 quality control, cut glass substrate edges that should be precise, strong, and splinter free.
[0059] The system and the method disclosed enable optimal detection and classification of defects in a continuously moving thin film without affecting the film movement speed.
[0060] While the exemplary embodiment of the present method and system have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without affecting the spirit and scope of the system and method. The scope of the method, therefore, is defined by reference to the following claims:

Claims

We claim:
1. A method of a photovoltaic panel quality control, said method comprising:
■ enabling a relative movement in at least one direction between the photovoltaic panel and a low-resolution scanning imaging unit and capturing successive two-dimensional frames of the scanned area;
■ analyzing the acquired image frames for presence of thin film production defects and communicating to a high resolution image scanning unit locations of said production defects;
■ enabling a relative movement between the photovoltaic panel and the high resolution scanning unit said, movement following the low-resolution unit movement and at least one additional direction parallel to the photovoltaic panel movement direction to acquire and classify the thin film production defects communicated by the low resolution scanning unit; and wherein the low and high resolution scanning units move simultaneously with the same speed across the photovoltaic panel and the speed of the high resolution scanning unit moving in the direction parallel to the thin film movement direction is different from the speed at which the photovoltaic panel moves.
2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the low-resolution two-dimensional image frames are at least partially overlapping frames.
3. The method according to claim 1 further comprising illuminating the scanned image frames by a plurality of illumination sources with each source having different parameters.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the illumination source parameters are at least one of a group of parameters consisting of wavelength, polarization, illumination duration, incidence angle, power, and type of illumination.
5. The method according to claim 1 further comprising enabling optimal detection and classification of defects in a continuously moving thin film by buffering at least a section of the film length.
6. The method according to claim 5 wherein a unit of fixed and floating platen performs the buffering of at least a section of the film length.
7. The method according to claim 1 further including marking the analyzed production defects for the severity of the defect.
8. The method according to claim 1 wherein at least one of a group of the low-resolution scanned images or the high-resolution scanned images is a multi-perspective image.
9. The method according to claim 1 further comprising auto focusing the image frames on the low and high resolution scanning units.
10. The method according to claim 1 further comprising displacing the low and high resolution scanning imaging units such as to butt the image frames of the beginning of the next scan with the image frames of the previous scan.
1 1. A method of a photovoltaic panel quality control, said method comprising:
■ moving the photovoltaic panel relative to at least one scanning imaging unit;
■ scanning the moving panel by a low-resolution scanning imaging unit moving in a direction perpendicular to the photovoltaic panel movement direction and acquiring successive two-dimensional frames of the scanned area;
■ analyzing the scanned image frames for presence of thin film production defects and communicating to a high resolution scanning unit locations of said production defects;
■ concurrently scanning the photovoltaic panel by a high resolution scanning unit moving in the direction perpendicular to the photovoltaic panel movement direction to acquire and classify the thin film production defects communicated by the low resolution scanning unit; and wherein the low and high resolution scanning units move simultaneously with the same speed in the direction perpendicular to the photovoltaic panel movement direction and the speed of the high resolution scanning unit moving in the direction parallel to the photovoltaic panel movement direction is different from the speed at which the photovoltaic panel moves.
12. The method according to claim 1 1 wherein the movement of the low-resolution unit and high-resolution unit in the direction perpendicular to the photovoltaic panel movement direction is a synchronous movement.
13. The method according to claim 1 1 wherein the low-resolution two-dimensional image frames are at least partially overlapping frames.
14. The method according to claim 11 further comprising illuminating the scanned image frames by a plurality of illumination source with each source having different illumination parameters.
15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the illumination source parameters are at least one of a group of parameters consisting of wavelength, polarization, illumination duration, incidence angle, power, and type of illumination.
16. The method according to claim 1 1 further comprising enabling optimal detection and classification of defects in a continuously moving thin film by buffering at least a section of the film length.
17. The method according to claim 16 wherein a unit of fixed and floating platen performs the buffering of at least a section of the film length.
18. The method according to claim 11 further including marking the analyzed production defects for the severity of the defect.
19. The method according to claim 11 wherein at least one of a group of the low-resolution scanned images or the high-resolution scanned images is a multi-perspective image.
20. The method according to claim 1 1 further including thin film metrology measurement tasks.
21. The method according to claim 11 further comprising auto focusing the image frames on the low and high resolution scanning units.
22. The method according to claim 11 further comprising displacing the low and high resolution scanning imaging units such as to butt the image frames of the beginning of the next scan with the image frames of the previous scan.
23. A method of a thin film quality control, said method comprising:
■ moving the thin film in a first direction;
■ scanning the moving thin film by a low-resolution scanning unit moving in a second direction and acquiring successive two-dimensional images of the scanned area;
■ analyzing the scanned images for presence of potential thin film production defects, marking the severity of the analyzed potential thin film production defects, and communicating to a high resolution scanning unit severity and location of the potential production defects;
■ concurrently scanning the thin film by a high resolution scanning unit moving in the first and second direction to acquire and classify the at least one location of a severe thin film production defect communicated by the low resolution scanning unit; and wherein the low and high resolution scanning units move simultaneously with the same speed in the second direction and the speed of the high resolution scanning unit moving in the first direction is different from the speed at which the thin film moves.
24. A method of a photovoltaic panel quality control, said method comprising:
■ providing a unit with a support for a photovoltaic panel, at least one low-resolution scanning unit and at least one high resolution scanning unit, and a control computer;
■ moving the support with the photovoltaic panel relative to the at least the low- resolution unit in a first direction;
■ scanning the moving panel by a low-resolution scanning unit moving in a second direction and acquiring successive two-dimensional frames of the scanned area;
■ analyzing the scanned frames for presence of thin film production defects and communicating to a high resolution scanning unit locations of said production defects; ■ concurrently scanning the photovoltaic panel by a high resolution scanning unit moving in the first and second direction to acquire and classify the thin film production defects communicated by the low resolution scanning unit; and wherein the low and high resolution scanning units move simultaneously with the same speed in the second direction and the speed of the high resolution scanning unit moving in the first direction is different from the speed at which the photovoltaic panel moves.
25. A system for in-line quality control in a continuously moving thin film, said system comprising:
- a motion unit configured to continuously move the thin film;
- a carriage carrying across the thin film:
■ a low resolution scanning unit configured to capture one or more two- dimensional perspective images of the thin film and detect potential thin film production defects locations;
■ a high resolution scanning unit adapted to receive the defect location, capture one or more high resolution perspective images of the defect, and classify the defect, and
- one or more illumination units illuminating the thin film.
26. The system according to claim 25, wherein the time of a perspective image capture corresponds to one time slice.
27. The system according to claim 25, wherein the continuously moving thin film moves at a constant or variable speed.
28. The system according to claim 25 further comprising the thin film movement speed adaptation unit.
29. The system according to claim 25 wherein the thin film movement speed adaptation unit is an assembly of fixed and floating rollers.
30. The system according to claim 25 further comprising auto focusing configured to focus the image frames on the low and high resolution scanning units.
31. The system according to claim 25 further comprising a mechanism configured to displace the low and high resolution scanning imaging units such as to butt the image frames of the beginning of the next scan with the image frames of the previous scan.
32. The system according to claim 25 further comprising a plurality of illumination sources with each source having different parameters.
33. The system according to claim 32, wherein the illumination sources parameters are at least one of a group consisting of wavelength, polarization, illumination duration, incidence angle, power and type of illumination.
34. The system according to claim 32, wherein the illumination sources parameters are at least one of a group consisting of sources emitting illumination or reflecting illumination, and wherein the illumination sources extend across the width of the thin film.
35. A method of a photovoltaic panel scribe line quality control, said method comprising:
■ providing a unit with a support for a photovoltaic panel, at least one low-resolution scanning unit and at least one high resolution scanning unit, and a control computer;
■ moving the support with the photovoltaic panel relative to the at least the low- resolution unit in a first direction;
■ scanning the moving panel by a low-resolution scanning unit moving in a second direction and acquiring successive two-dimensional frames of the scribe lines;
■ analyzing the scanned frames for presence of scribe line production defects and communicating to a high resolution scanning unit locations of said scribe line production defects;
■ concurrently scanning the photovoltaic panel by a high resolution scanning unit moving in the first and second direction to acquire and classify the scribe line production defects communicated by the low resolution scanning unit; and wherein the low and high resolution scanning units move simultaneously with the same speed in the second direction and the speed of the high resolution scanning unit moving in the first direction is different from the speed at which the photovoltaic panel moves.
36. The method according to claim 32 wherein the scribe line production defects are at least one of a group consisting of scribe line shorts, scribe line sections formation, underlying substrate damage, scribe line residues, scribe line walls parallelism, and others.
EP09810749A 2009-01-11 2009-12-23 A system and method for thin film quality assurance Withdrawn EP2386059A1 (en)

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