JP2590918B2 - Manufacturing method of amorphous semiconductor device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to depositing a metal layer on an amorphous semiconductor layer formed on an insulating substrate via a first electrode, and forming the metal layer on the amorphous semiconductor layer. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an amorphous semiconductor device in which a second electrode is divided and formed.

[Conventional technology]

For example, in a solar cell using an amorphous semiconductor, in order to obtain a high output voltage, a plurality of solar cell elements are formed on a substrate and connected in series. for that purpose,
A step of dividing the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer that are stacked on the insulating substrate with the amorphous semiconductor layer interposed therebetween is required. Further, the amorphous semiconductor layer may be divided.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

Recently, a laser scribing method has been used to divide the first electrode layer deposited on the substrate and the amorphous semiconductor layer thereon, but a second electrode layer usually formed of a metal thereon has been used. The laser scribing method is not applied to the division because it is difficult to adjust the laser light output so as not to affect the lower layer already laminated. Therefore, a conventional photolithography technique is used. That is, a resist is applied on the metal layer, the resist is exposed, developed, etched, and then divided through a step of removing the resist film. However, this method goes through five steps,
There is a disadvantage that the number of steps is large and the production cost is high.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an amorphous semiconductor device in which the manufacturing cost is reduced by reducing the number of steps for dividing a metal layer into a second electrode, excluding the above-mentioned disadvantages.

[Means for solving the problem]

To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a metal layer is deposited on an amorphous semiconductor layer formed on an insulating substrate via a first electrode, and the metal layer is formed by an electric field processing method. In the method for manufacturing an amorphous semiconductor device in which the second electrode is formed by dividing the processed electrode, the processed electrode for dividing the metal layer is formed on the processed electrode substrate in the same shape as the desired divided shape of the metal layer to be processed. Then, the processed electrode is made to face the metal layer, and the metal layer is divided according to the shape of the processed electrode to form the second electrode.

[Action]

The use of the electric field processing method does not require many steps as in the case of the photolithography method, so that the cost can be reduced.

Further, since the processed electrode has a shape corresponding to the divisional shape of the metal layer to be processed, the metal layer can be collectively processed.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a reference example of the present invention, in which a transparent and conductive first electrode 2 is formed on a glass substrate 1 and an amorphous material having a pin junction is formed thereon. A semiconductor layer 3 is provided and a thickness of 1 μm is formed on the semiconductor layer 3 by vapor deposition or sputtering.
In order to divide the metal electrode layer of the semiconductor element formed in
A processing electrode 5 surrounded by an insulator 6 at a position facing the division portion
Is provided. The distance between the processing electrode 5 and the metal layer 4 is 0.05 to 1.0 m
m, preferably 0.1-0.8mm, most preferably 0.2-0.6mm
Is preferable. An electrolytic solution 8 is supplied between the processing electrode 5 and the metal layer 4 from a nozzle 7. The type of electrolyte varies depending on the type of metal forming the metal electrode. For example, in the case of Al, an aqueous solution of NaOH, NaCl, acetic acid or the like is preferable. When a positive voltage is applied between the metal layer 4 and the processing electrode 5, the metal electrode causes a dissolution reaction at a rate proportional to the amount of current. Since the thickness of the metal layer 4 is as thin as about 1 μm, the metal layer in the divided portion is very easily removed. If the interval between the divided portions is 50 μm or more, the removal width of the metal layer 4 can be freely selected by controlling the interval of the shape of the processing electrode 5. The insulator 6 serves to prevent a current from flowing except for a reaction target portion and to prevent a necessary dissolution reaction from occurring.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention. The same reference numerals are given to the same parts as in FIG. 1, and the difference from the embodiment of FIG. This makes it possible to increase the processing efficiency.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention and shows an example of a processing electrode used to divide a metal layer into strips. FIG. 3 (a) is a plan view, FIG. 3 (b) is a cross-sectional view thereof, and FIG. It is the A section enlarged view of (b). A metal processing electrode 5 formed by photo-etching on an insulating substrate 11, which is a processing electrode substrate,
It has a shape required for a processing object, and a voltage can be applied by a terminal (not shown). This processed electrode substrate 11 is incorporated in the electrolytic processing apparatus shown in FIG. That is, the substrate 1 of the amorphous semiconductor element is supported on the processing table 12, and the processing electrode substrate 11 is opposed to the metal electrode layer 4 with the processing electrode 5 facing downward. An electrolyte supply port 13 is formed in the substrate 11,
A liquid reservoir 14 for accumulating the electrolytic solution 8 is provided on the upper part thereof. The electrolytic solution 8 is supplied to the processing surface through the supply port 13, and a negative voltage is applied to the processing electrode 5 and a positive voltage is applied to the metal layer 4 by the power supply 9, whereby the metal layer is formed according to the pattern of the processing electrode. Dissolve and split. Electrolyte 8 is pump 16
Is supplied from the tank 15 to the liquid reservoir 14,
Returned to 15.

FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b) show another example of the processing electrode substrate 11, which is different from the example of FIG. 5 in that a stopper for keeping an interval between the processing electrode 5 and the metal bath 4 is provided. Reference numeral 18 is a point attached to the substrate 11.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which a part of the metal electrode layer 4 is removed by processing with a needle 19 before dissolving and separating using the processing electrode 5.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, as a result of adopting the above method, the metal layer can be processed into a desired divided shape at a time, and the laser scribing method does not require many steps as in the case of using the photolithography technique. As described above, there is no influence on lower layers such as an amorphous semiconductor layer, and no expensive equipment is required, which is extremely effective in reducing the cost of an amorphous semiconductor device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a reference example of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing another reference example, and FIGS. 3 (a), (b) and (c) are processes used in the embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a plan view, (b) is a cross-sectional view, (c) is an enlarged view of a portion A of (b),
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an electrolytic processing apparatus for an embodiment using the processing electrode substrate of FIG. 3, and FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b) show another example of a substrate of the processing electrode. ) Is a plan view, (b) is a sectional view, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention. 1: glass substrate, 2: first electrode, 3: amorphous semiconductor layer, 4: metal electrode layer, 5: processed electrode, 8: electrolytic solution.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A metal layer is deposited on an amorphous semiconductor layer formed on an insulating substrate via a first electrode, and the metal layer is divided by an electric field processing method to form a second electrode. In the method for manufacturing an amorphous semiconductor device, a processing electrode for dividing a metal layer is formed on a processing electrode substrate in the same shape as a desired division shape of a metal layer to be processed. A method for manufacturing an amorphous semiconductor device, wherein a second electrode is formed by dividing a metal layer in accordance with the shape of a processing electrode.