JP2902953B2 - Manufacturing equipment for thin-film photoelectric conversion elements - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a thin-film photoelectric conversion element for forming layers on a flexible substrate conveyed from a feed chamber to a take-up chamber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Each layer including a photoelectric conversion layer mainly composed of a-Si is formed on a flexible substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate) made of a long polymer material or a metal such as stainless steel. The method of manufacturing a thin film photoelectric conversion element is excellent in productivity. As a method of forming a plurality of layers on a long substrate, there are a roll-to-roll method in which a film is formed on a substrate moving in each film forming chamber and a method in which a film is formed on a substrate stopped in the film forming chamber. There is a stepping roll method in which a substrate portion on which a film is finished is sent out of a film forming chamber. A conventional film forming apparatus of this type transports a substrate with the substrate surface being horizontal. However, the thin film photoelectric conversion element manufacturing apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 6-120942 filed by the present applicant is disclosed. Is to reduce the installation space of the equipment by transporting the substrate vertically, and to reduce the displacement and deflection of the substrate, which is a problem, by changing the transport direction of the substrate locally. It is prevented by passing the substrate in close contact with the cylindrical surface for a certain distance. FIGS. 3 and 4 are almost the same as the drawings attached to the above specification, and in this apparatus shown in a plan sectional view in FIG. 3 and a front sectional view in FIG.
The cores 31 and 32 are held vertically in the feed chamber 21 and the take-up chamber 24 installed above. Therefore, a bearing 53 provided with a vacuum seal is provided at a lower portion. It is held vertically. The shaft of the reference taper cone 51 is directly connected to a core drive motor 54 disposed outside the room. A driven taper cone 52 faces directly above the reference taper cone 51.
The driven taper cone 52 has a core setting mechanism 55 thereon.
Can be moved up and down. Substrate 1 with core 3
In order to carry the material from 1 to the core 32, a feed roll 34 is provided in the feed chamber 21, and a take-up roll 3
5 are arranged, and an outdoor drive motor 57 is directly connected to each. The rotating shaft is supported by a vacuum-sealed bearing 56, and includes a feed roll 34 and a take-up roll 35, on both sides of which there are provided idle rolls 33 rotatable about a central axis for changing the direction of the substrate. The upper part of the take-up roll 35 and each idle roll 33 is supported by an upper support bearing 58, and the lower end of the idle roll 33 is
Each is held by a lower support bearing 59. Feeding room 2
1. The take-up chamber 22 is provided with doors 61 and 62 which open in the direction of an arrow 63 on the front surface, respectively. The doors 61 and 62 are used to take in and out the cores 31 and 32 and set the substrate 1. The film is formed on the substrate 1 in the film forming chambers 22 and 23 by the ground electrode 4
2 is lowered by the drive source 49, and the substrate 1 is
The substrate 1 is pressed against a top plate 45 above a wall 44 surrounding the substrate 1, and is heated by a heater built in the ground electrode 42 and connected to an AC power supply 46. 7, gas 71 and 72 are introduced and RF
This is performed by applying a voltage to the high-voltage electrode 41 from the power supply 47 to generate plasma in the film formation space 7. The film is formed on the substrate 1 facing the opening 48 of the top plate. The high voltage electrode 41 is attached to the door 73, and the maintenance work of the electrode can be performed by opening the door 73. The ground electrode 42 can be similarly attached to the door to facilitate maintenance work.

The substrate 1 is conveyed by servo-controlling the drive motors 57, 54 of the feed roll 34, the take-up roll 35, and the reference taper cone 51 by an externally provided control device so that the substrate surface is in a vertical plane. Do as you would.

[0004]

However, in the thin film photoelectric conversion device manufacturing apparatus shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, wrinkles are generated on the substrate 1 due to heating of the substrate or heat received from plasma during film formation. Wrinkling in the core 32 may occur, causing damage to the thin-film photoelectric conversion element, which may cause deterioration in the characteristics of the manufactured thin-film photoelectric conversion element. In addition, when trying to load a long substrate in order to take advantage of the features suitable for mass production of this device, the weight of the feed core 31 and the take-up core 32 is inevitably heavy, and the operator has to move the core vertically. Since it is more difficult to carry the substrate 1 horizontally, it takes a long time to attach and detach the substrate 1. Further, in order to increase the production amount of the thin-film photoelectric conversion element, it is desirable to arrange the lines from the feed roll to the take-up roll in parallel. FIG. 5 shows a thin-film photoelectric conversion element described in Japanese Patent Application No. 5-220870 and the like.
1. An amorphous silicon (a-Si) film 12 and a transparent conductive film 13 are laminated, and a metal film 14 is formed on the back surface. The metal film 11 serving as the first electrode is connected to the metal film 14 serving as the back electrode by the metal film 15 attached when the inner metal film 13 is formed in the hole 16 penetrating the substrate 1. The transparent conductive film 13 is an a-Si film 1
2. In a hole 17 penetrating through the metal film 11 and the substrate 1, it is connected to another portion of the metal film 14 by a metal film 15 attached to the inner surface thereof. Therefore, in this thin-film conversion element, the connection between the first electrode 11 and the second electrode 12 for connecting a single cell can be performed between the portions of the metal film 14 on the back surface. In order to manufacture such a thin film photoelectric conversion element, the transparent conductive film 13 and the metal film 14 must be formed on both surfaces of the substrate. There is a problem that it is difficult to arrange such film forming lines in parallel in one apparatus from the viewpoint of maintenance work.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a first object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for manufacturing a thin film photoelectric conversion element which does not cause wrinkles on a substrate surface even when the substrate is heated. A second object is to provide an apparatus for manufacturing a thin-film photoelectric conversion element in which a heavy core can be easily attached and detached. A third object is to provide an apparatus for manufacturing a thin-film photoelectric conversion element having two lines for forming films on both surfaces of a substrate.

[0006]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the first object, according to the present invention, a surface is vertically extended between a transport roll and a press roll which are driven to rotate from a feed chamber to a take-up chamber. A film is formed by applying a voltage between electrodes facing each other with one or more film-forming chambers sandwiching the substrate on the surface of a flexible substrate conveyed in the plane; It is assumed that a roll is provided, the surface of which is in contact with the substrate that has exited the film formation chamber and is cooled by the flow of a coolant. Preferably, the refrigerant is water. In order to achieve the second object, according to the present invention, the paper is conveyed so that the surface is in a vertical plane between a conveyance roll and a holding roll that are rotationally driven from the feed chamber to the winding chamber. On a surface of a flexible substrate, a film is formed by applying a voltage between electrodes facing each other across one or more film-forming chambers in one or more film-forming chambers. Rotating means capable of changing the position of the holding body of the core around which the substrate is wound between the horizontal position and the vertical position of the core axis, elevating means capable of changing the position of the holding body up and down, and the position of the holding body In the feed chamber or the take-up chamber. According to the present invention, in order to achieve the third object, the surface of the flexible substrate
In addition, surface side metal film, amorphous silicon film, transparent conductive
The film is stacked, and a backside metal film is formed on the backside of the substrate.
The surface side metal film is in the first hole penetrating the substrate,
Connected to the back side metal film, the transparent conductive film is amorphous
Silicon film, surface side metal film, second hole penetrating the substrate
Inside, the part of the back side metal film that is connected to the front side metal film
Is connected to other parts and is made of a thin-film photoelectric conversion element
A forming apparatus, flexible on a substrate surface is carried out as in the vertical plane through between the transport roll and the pressing roll are driven to rotate the take-up chamber from the feed chamber, a plurality of formed A film is formed by applying a voltage between electrodes facing each other across a substrate in a film chamber, and has two transport paths for separately transporting two flexible substrates, and the two transport paths are A parallel section that exits the common feed chamber and passes in parallel through the deposition chamber, and a single section that separates at an equal angle to the section and runs in opposite directions to each other.
The film forming chamber and on the back surface of the substrate for forming a transparent conductive film on the front surface
It passes through a film forming chamber for forming a back side metal film .

[0007]

In a film forming chamber, a cylindrical surface of a roll cooled by the flow of a refrigerant is brought into contact with a substrate heated to a film forming temperature or heated by heat to which plasma is applied. The resulting wrinkles on the substrate can be removed. By providing rotating means, elevating means, and back-and-forth moving means outside the feed chamber and the take-up chamber, respectively, the core body at the horizontal position of the axis which is easy to carry is set up vertically, and the height is adjusted and then put into the feed chamber. This facilitates the work of mounting and mounting, and the work of removing the film in the take-up chamber after film formation, taking it out of the room, and dropping it to the horizontal position of the shaft for easy transport.

The transport path of the substrate is divided into a parallel section and a single section having the same angle as the parallel section. In the parallel section, the film is formed by passing the two transport paths in parallel. By forming the film on the side surface, the occupied area is reduced as compared with a case where a single transport path is separately arranged. In addition, it is possible to provide an arrangement for avoiding mutual interference between the maintenance work areas even between the parallel section and the single section.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings in which the same reference numerals are given to common parts including FIGS. 1 and 2 show an apparatus for manufacturing a thin film photoelectric conversion element according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan sectional view and FIG. 2 is a front sectional view. The substrate 1 is transferred from the feed core 31 of the feed chamber 21 to the winding chamber 24 via the film forming chambers 22 and 23.
The mechanism for transporting to the take-up core 32 is substantially the same as in FIGS. In order to transport the substrate 1 from the core 31 to the core 32 while maintaining a constant tension, the controller detects the peripheral speed of each of the core drive motors 54 for rotating the reference taper cones 51 of the feed chamber 21 and the winding chamber 24. Then, the ratio of the peripheral speed is controlled. The upper end of the idle roll 38 on the film forming chamber side is held by an actuator 82 that moves back and forth in response to a signal from a level sensor 81 that detects the amount of displacement of the substrate 1, and the lower end is supported by a spherical bearing 60 as a lower support bearing. ing. According to the present invention, the touch roll 36 is
1 and the feed roll 34 between the film forming chamber 22 and two rolls facing each other between the film forming chamber 22 and the film forming chamber 23.
The winding roll 3 is disposed between the film forming chamber 23 and the film forming chamber 24.
5 and are arranged opposite to each other. These touch rolls 3
The substrate 1 that is in contact with the cylindrical surface 6 is cooled by the touch roll 36 by flowing the cooling water 37 therein, so that the substrate 1 is cooled during transport. This makes it possible to remove wrinkles from the substrate by heating the substrate with a heater or applying heat from plasma. In this case, the feed roll 34 facing the touch roll 36 and the take-up roll 3
Cooling 5 is more effective for removing wrinkles because the contact area between the roll and the substrate is large. Using this apparatus, an a-Si film is formed in the film forming chamber 22 on the substrate 1 on which the metal film of the first electrode has already been formed, and the high voltage electrode 41 is used as a target electrode in the film forming chamber 23 by sputtering. A transparent conductive film was laminated.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a thin-film photoelectric conversion device according to an embodiment of the present invention in which a film forming chamber is omitted, FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view, and FIG. FIG. The core 31 of the feed chamber 21 is mounted between the reference taper cone 51 and the driven taper cone 52 by a core mounting device 91 having a vertical and pivotal movement mechanism adjacent to the feed chamber. The core 32 of the take-up chamber 24 is taken out by a core take-out device 92 adjacent to the take-up chamber. Core mounting device 91
The holding mechanism 93 holds the core 31 in a horizontal posture as shown by a dashed line, and
4. Turn 90 ° and stand upright. When the position of the door 61 of the feed chamber 21 is high, the vertical movement actuator 95
The moving table 97 is raised by the moving guide 96 and moves the core 31 to the mounting height. In order to move the core 31 which has reached the mounting height to the axis of the reference taper cone 51 and the driven taper cone 52 facing each other, the moving table 87 is moved by the front-rear moving actuator 98 and the moving guide 86.
In the direction of the feed chamber 21. Next, so that the taper of the reference taper cone 51 and the taper of the core 31 fit together,
The moving table 97 is moved downward, and the driven taper cone 5 is moved.
2 is lowered by the core setting mechanism 55 and the core 31 is mounted. Thereafter, the handling mechanism 93 holding the core 31 is released, and the handling tables 93 and 97 allow the handling mechanism 93 to wait at a predetermined position. The core 32 is taken out of the winding chamber 24 by the core take-out device 92 in the reverse process of the core mounting device 91.

FIG. 8 is a plan sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention according to claim 4 which is used for manufacturing the thin film photoelectric conversion device shown in FIG. In order to manufacture the photoelectric conversion element having a multilayer structure shown in FIG. 5, a metal film 11 is formed on the substrate 1 as a first step. In the second step, through holes 16 and 17 penetrate with the metal film 11 on which the substrate 1 is formed.
To form The third step is to form a metal film 11 on the substrate 1.
An a-Si film 12 is formed thereon, and subsequently, as a fourth step,
A transparent conductive film 13 is formed on the a-Si film 12. In the final step, a metal film 14 is formed on the back surface of the substrate 1 formed in the previous step.
Need to be formed. The manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. 8 includes two rows of transfer systems. The structure of the film forming chamber includes a film forming chamber 22 for forming the a-Si film 12 on the substrate 1 which has been completed up to the second step, a film forming chamber 23 for forming the transparent conductive film 13,
There is a film forming chamber 26 for forming the metal film 14 for each transport system, and both the film forming chambers 22 are formed in one vacuum chamber following the common feed chamber 21. After the chamber 22, it is arranged in an L-shape with the intermediate chamber 27 interposed therebetween. With this arrangement, the maintenance of the film forming chamber 22 with the door 64 opened, and the film forming chamber 2 with the doors 65 and 66 opened.
The maintenance of 3, 26 can be performed without interference between the work areas. Thus, a thin-film photoelectric conversion element manufacturing apparatus having high productivity can be arranged in a small area. In the embodiment, the two transfer systems are arranged in a T-shape which is bent in an L-shape. Good. The structure of the film forming chamber 26 is the same as that of the film forming chamber 23 except that the positions of the high-voltage electrode 41 and the ground electrode 42 are different from those of the substrate 1.
Is symmetric with respect to the plane of. From the third step to the final step of the film forming step, a single apparatus is used to form a film. In this example,
The core 3 is provided by the hand lifter 99 having a turning function.
The attachment and detachment of 1, 32 are performed. The thin-film photoelectric conversion element manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to any of a roll-to-roll method and a stepping roll method, and a film forming method can be any of a plasma CVD method and a sputtering method.

[0012]

According to the present invention, the cylindrical surface of a roll, which has been cooled by flowing a cooling medium, is brought into contact with the roll to cool the substrate having a wrinkled surface due to a rise in temperature during film formation, thereby removing the wrinkled substrate. Element damage was prevented. According to another aspect of the present invention, by providing a mounting device and a removal device that change the position of the core holder for attaching and detaching the core around which the substrate is wound,
Even when the length of the substrate is long and the core weight is heavy for mass production, one worker can easily perform the attaching / detaching operation, thereby improving workability and shortening the operation time.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the conveying path is divided into a parallel section in which two paths are parallel and a single section, and film formation on both surfaces of the substrate which is difficult to be formed in the parallel section is performed in the single section.
By performing other film formation in the parallel section, the area occupied by the apparatus can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional plan view of a thin-film photoelectric conversion element manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of the thin film photoelectric conversion device manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan sectional view of a conventional thin-film photoelectric conversion element manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of the thin-film photoelectric conversion device manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an example of a thin-film photoelectric conversion element manufacturing apparatus manufactured by the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view of a thin-film photoelectric conversion element manufacturing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a front sectional view of the thin film photoelectric conversion device manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional plan view of a thin-film photoelectric conversion element manufacturing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Flexible substrate 21 Feeding chamber 22, 23, 26 Film forming chamber 24 Winding chamber 34 Feeding roll 35 Winding roll 36 Touch roll 37 Cooling water 41 High voltage electrode 42 Ground electrode 51 Reference taper cone 52 Follower taper cone 91 Core mounting device 92 Core take-out device 93 Handling mechanism 94 Rotary actuator 95 Vertical actuator 98 Front-back actuator

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method according to claim 1, wherein one or more of the flexible substrates are conveyed in such a manner that the surface is in a vertical plane through a transfer roll and a holding roll which are driven to rotate from a feed chamber to a take-up chamber. Rolls formed by applying a voltage between electrodes facing each other across a substrate in a plurality of film forming chambers, wherein the cylindrical surface is in contact with the substrate exiting the film forming chamber, and is cooled by the flow of a coolant. An apparatus for manufacturing a thin-film photoelectric conversion element, comprising: 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerant is water. 3. A flexible substrate which is conveyed so that the surface is in a vertical plane between a conveying roll and a holding roll which are rotationally driven from a feed chamber to a winding chamber, and one or more of the flexible substrates are conveyed. In the case where a film is formed by applying a voltage between electrodes facing each other across a substrate in a plurality of film forming chambers, the position of a core holding body around which the substrate is wound is set outside the feed chamber and the winding chamber. Rotating means that can convert between the horizontal position and the vertical position of the core shaft, elevating means that can change the position of the holder up and down, and the position of the holder with the core mounting position in the feed chamber or winding chamber. And a back-and-forth moving means capable of converting between the two. 4. A surface-side metal film on a surface of a flexible substrate.
The morphous silicon film and the transparent conductive film are laminated,
On the back surface, a back side metal film is formed, and the front side metal film is
In the first hole that penetrates the substrate, it is connected to the backside metal film.
The transparent conductive film is an amorphous silicon film,
Metal film on the back side in the second hole penetrating the metal film and substrate
The part connected to the surface side metal film is connected at another part
A manufacturing apparatus for a thin-film photoelectric conversion device, comprising: a transfer roll rotatably driven from a feed chamber to a take-up chamber; On a flexible substrate, a film is formed by applying a voltage between electrodes facing each other across a substrate in a plurality of film forming chambers, and two transport paths for separately transporting two flexible substrates are provided. The two transport paths have a parallel section exiting the common feed chamber and passing in parallel through the film forming chamber, and a single section separated at an equal angle to the section and running in opposite directions. and, characterized in that through the deposition chamber for forming the back side metal film on the film forming chamber and the back surface of the substrate to <br/> a transparent conductive film is formed on a front surface of the substrate alone section Manufacturing equipment for thin-film photoelectric conversion elements.