JPS6059785A - Photoelectric conversion device and manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable to reliably connect external lead electrode which is particularly liable to be deteriorated in the reliability by employing a laser scribing type and forming an isolating groove of the first frame groove and the second frame groove. CONSTITUTION:Scribing line grooves 13, 13' are formed by a YAG laser machine, the portion between element regions and external lead electrode region are divided to form first electrode. The external lead electrode region 5, the first element region 31 and the second element region 11 are formed. A non-single crystal semiconductor 3 is formed over the entire surface of the grooves 13, 13' on a light transmissive film (CTF) 2 and further on the first frame groove 56 in a uniform thickness, and the second groove 18 is formed at the left side of the first groove 13 in the second LS step. Thus, the groove 18 is exposed at the sides 8, 9 of the first electrode, and a plurality of elements 31, 11 are connected is series at the connecting portion 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements (also simply referred to as elements) provided on a substrate having an insulating surface and a non-single crystal semiconductor including an amorphous semiconductor that generates a photovoltaic force when irradiated with light. 1) By providing a frame at the end of a photoelectric conversion device that can be electrically connected in series to generate high voltage,
The present invention relates to a structure of a separation groove provided so that the electrical characteristics of the element are not deteriorated by this frame, and a method for manufacturing the same.

The present invention is characterized in that a laser scribing (hereinafter referred to as LS) method is used in order to reduce the area required for connecting a plurality of elements to 1/10 to 1/100 of the conventional mask alignment method.

This invention provides a structure that can be manufactured without using any mask by using the LS method to create a separation groove with an opening groove around the first frame and an opening groove around the second frame. show.

In the present invention, even in the formation of the separation groove, the photoelectric conversion element is fixed (manufactured in the same process, that is, without using an extra process).

Furthermore, in the present invention, even if the connection between the alumina wood and the carbon fiber frame of this photoelectric conversion device is misaligned in the separation groove at the two ends, the characteristics of the element will not deteriorate, and the ends It is characterized by the fact that it was manufactured without using any kind of mask to form the .

That is, the present invention relates to a photoelectric conversion device using a maskless LS method, which makes it possible to more reliably connect an external extraction electrode portion, which is particularly susceptible to deterioration in reliability.

In this invention, by using a laser beam scribing method, the address to be scribed using the alignment mark as a reference is stored in advance in the memory of a computer (microcomputer), which is not necessary in the conventional mask alignment method. The mask scratches, warps,
The feature is that all causes of price increases and yield decreases in manufacturing, such as decreases in manufacturing yields due to alignment accuracy, are eliminated at once.

Conventionally, many examples of photoelectric conversion devices (hereinafter simply referred to as devices), that is, devices in which a plurality of elements are arranged on the same substrate and are integrated or hybridized, are known.

For example, JP-A-55-4994, JP-A-55-12427
4 Furthermore, patent application No. 54=90097 filed by the present inventor.
/90098/90099' (Showa 54.7.16
)It has been known.

For example, the patent application filed by the present inventor is based on semiconductor 5ix
It is a c1-y-5i heterojunction, which is different from the case where other amorphous silicon semiconductors are simply used, and furthermore, this semiconductor is a PN to which hydrogen or halogen elements containing a microcrystalline structure is added in addition to the amorphous structure. Alternatively, it is an integrated or hybridized non-single crystal semiconductor having at least one PIN junction.

The present invention achieves such an integrated structure without using a mask, but during this integration, the manufacturing of the peripheral part of the connecting part with the outer frame, which tends to require extra steps, is the same as the integration process. It is achieved through the process.

For this reason, in the photoelectric conversion device of the present invention, particularly in the VH'A type photoelectric conversion device, each of the conductive layer for electrodes, which is one thin layer, and one semiconductor layer each have a thickness of 500 to 1 μm. By using the laser scribing method, it has become possible to manufacture the device without the need for mask alignment at all.

In this LS method, it is possible to separate two regions by a linear IJ groove of 10 to 100 μm, for example, 50 μm. However, in this LS method, selective removal as a surface has extremely poor productivity.

Furthermore, in the LS method, although it is highly productive to scan a straight line, scanning a curved line in a complicated manner slows down the scanning speed, resulting in an increase in price. For this reason, when creating an integrated structure in the LS method, it is industrially extremely important to achieve this with linear open grooves.

The present invention relates to a structure and manufacturing method of a peripheral portion, that is, a side end portion, of a photoelectric conversion device by making full use of such features.

In the present invention, this scribing process is
By using a computer, it is extremely simple and has a high viscosity, resulting in a reduction in the manufacturing cost of the device.

Therefore, it is possible to manufacture a photoelectric conversion device at a cost of 500 yen/W, and by expanding the manufacturing scale, it becomes possible to produce a photoelectric conversion device at a cost of 100 to 200 yen/W.

Furthermore, in the present invention, in addition to using this laser scribing process, it is important to have a degree of redundancy (margin) in the alignment accuracy of the scribe lines. Therefore, the first electrode (lower side) between adjacent elements and the second electrode of other elements
By electrically connecting the second electrode (upper electrode) to the first electrode on its side surface through a lead extending from the second electrode, redundancy can be provided in the position of the open groove of the scribe line. Ta.

Figure 1 shows a panel (50) of a photoelectric conversion device using the present invention.
is shown from the top. That is, in the drawing, the photoelectric conversion elements (31) < 11 ) are connected in series through the connection part (12) and integrated. Both fai1 portions of external extraction electrodes are provided at (5) and (43).

Separate the top edge of the panel and the underline to prevent electrical short-circuiting with the frame? a (62) is provided.

By specifically providing the separation groove of the present invention, it is possible to precisely define the effective area of the photoelectric conversion device, and furthermore, even if a conductive film exists outside the separation groove (i.e., since no mask is used, the This makes it possible to completely electrically isolate the remaining conductive film (which is generally formed over the entire surface of the substrate) from the device.

In the panel shown in Figure 1, its size is 20cm x 6
0cm, 40cmX120cm, 40cmX60cm
Any size can be obtained by design.

FIG. 2 shows a vertical cross-sectional view along line (AA') in FIG. 1. Figure 3 (A) and (C-C
') is shown in FIG. 3(B).

Further, the structure of the end portion of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4 (B) as a vertical cross-sectional view along (D-D'), and in FIG. 4 (E) enlarged as in FIG. It corresponds to each.

FIG. 2 shows a vertical cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 (A-A"). That is, FIG.
In Fig. 4, a substrate having an insulating surface, for example, a transparent substrate (1), that is, a glass plate (for example, thickness 1.2 mm, length in left and right direction in the drawing: 60 cm, I'p 20 cm)
was used. Furthermore, a light-transmitting conductive film such as ITO (approximately 1500 people) +5n02 (20
A transparent conductive film (1,500 to 2,000 samples) mainly composed of tin oxide to which a halogen element was added was formed by a vacuum evaporation method, an LP CVD method, a plasma CVD method, or a spray method. This first conductive film is not necessary in the external lead-out electrode portion, or an increase in molding cost due to the use of a mask is avoided. In this way, CTF is simultaneously formed also in the peripheral area (59) in FIG. After this, from the bottom or top of this board, use a YAG laser processing machine (
Applying an output of 0.5 to 3 W using a Nippon Laser M), a micro-computer is controlled to irradiate the surface with a diameter of 30 to 70 μΦ, typically 50 μΦ, and the scanning creates an open groove for the scribe line (13), <13') to divide each element region and external extraction electrode region.

Then, a first electrode was produced.

Open groove (13) formed by this first LS, <13
') had a width of about 50 μm and a length of 20 cm, and the depth was such that each of the first electrodes was completely cut and separated. This length is the first
It passes through from the top end to the bottom end in the figure.

In this way, the external extraction electrode region (5), the first element region (
31) and the second element region (11) were constructed. The l'' of these elements was 10 to 20 mm.

Furthermore, an open groove on the circumference of the first frame was formed in a direction perpendicular to the first open grooves (13) and <13'> as shown in (5G) in FIG. The opening groove (56) around the first frame was provided inside the end (70) with a width of 1 mm.

After this, plasma CVD method or LPCVI) is applied to this upper surface.
method, optical CVN method, optical plasma CVD method, LT CVI)
A non-single crystal semiconductor layer (3) having a PN or pxNls combination is formed by a method (110110, also referred to as a CVD method) at a temperature of 0.
The saw is formed to a thickness of 2 to 1.0 microns, and typically 0.4 to 0.6 microns. A typical example is a P-type semiconductor (SixC1-
×x - fl, 850 = 150 people) (42) - type 1 amorphous or semi-amorphous silicon semiconductor (0
,4~0,6μX43) -N type.

(Semiconductors containing D'dl crystals (400-200)
A non-fli crystalline semiconductor (3) having one PIN junction consisting of (44) was formed. As this semiconductor, ■) type semiconductor (SixC1-x) I type Si semiconductor - N type Si
Semiconductor - P type 31 semiconductor - I type 5ixGc l-X semiconductor - Two PIN junctions and one II consisting of N type semiconductor
Kuntem type PINP with N junction ■N...P
It may also be an IN junction semiconductor (3).

Such a non-single crystal semiconductor (3) is C'l'li (2)
In the first opening (13), <13'), the film is formed with a uniform thickness over the entire surface of the first frame groove (56). Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2(B), a second groove (18) with a thickness of 50 μm is formed on the left side of the first groove (13).
The second LSI was formed over a distance (17) of 100 to 500 μ in 1J. This lede is made of glass (
1) It may be carried out either from below or from above this substrate.

The second open groove (18) thus forms a side surface (8) of the first electrode.
, < 9) were exposed. The existence of the right side surface (9) of the first electrode formed by this second groove causes the first
It is characterized by being provided over the electrode positions. As shown in FIG. 2(B), by entering the inside of the first electrode (31), the side surface of the first electrode (8) is exposed. As a result, a portion of the first electrode (37) of the first element remains on the right side of the second groove. If there is no such remaining area, the high heat (~2000°C) of the laser beam will cause
Since it is much easier to process than the TI in (2), the semiconductor filled in the first groove (13) is blown away.

Therefore, isolation between the first electrodes of the first and second elements becomes impossible. From this, Figure 2 (B)
It is very important that the second groove is provided inside the first electrode, as shown in FIG. This (9)
The CTF remaining in the portion was made to have a width of 50 to 500μ. This laser beam was somewhat strong at 1 to 5 W and removed the entire CTF (37) in the depth direction, resulting in the formation of a second electrode (3) on the side surface (8) as shown in Figure 2 (C).
8), there is no practical equivalent problem even if they are placed closely together. Immediate sea 9
'The ability to provide a margin for the intensity of the output pulse of light is extremely important in industrial applications of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, as shown in FIG. 2(C), a second back electrode (4) is further formed on this upper surface, and a third opening for separating the cut 11i is formed by the third LS method. m (
20) was established.

This second electrode (4) has a transparent conductive film of 700 to 140
It is formed of ITO (indium oxide 5.-m tin oxide) to a thickness of 0.0 g, and reflective gold 17A, silver, aluminum, or chromium is further formed on its upper surface to a thickness of 300 to 3000 g. Furthermore, a film of copper, aluminum, or aluminum and nickel was formed on the top surface. For example, 1050 layers of ITO, 500 layers of chromium,
It has a three-layer structure with 1,000 copper layers and 1,500 nickel layers. This ITO and total refractory refraction promote reflection of incident light (10) on the back surface side and effectively photoelectrically convert long wavelength light of 600 to 800 II m. Furthermore, is the nickel an external drawer? This is to improve the adhesion between the band (49) and the external connector (23) at the 'h pole part (5). These were formed using an electric r-beam evaporation method or a plasma CVD method at a temperature of 611!L degrees below 300° C., which does not deteriorate the 4″-coalescence layer (3).

This ITO also helps to prevent a decrease in reliability due to a chemical reaction between the semiconductor (3) and the back electrode (4), thereby improving reliability.

The back electrode is irradiated with a laser beam from above to cut and separate the second electrode to form a third open groove (20) (rl15).
0 μ) is shown. This laser light excites the semiconductor, especially the - (N or I) type semiconductor chips that are in close contact with the two surfaces.
), the occurrence of crosstalk (leakage current) due to residual metal or conductive semiconductor in the open groove between the second elements (11) was prevented.

In particular, this semiconductor (3) has, for example, one PIN junction with a P-type semiconductor layer (42), a ■-type semiconductor layer (43), and an N-type semiconductor layer (44), and this N-type semiconductor layer is microcrystalline or polycrystalline. If it has a crystal structure, 1 to 200 (Ωcm)-'
and has high electrical conductivity. For this reason, it was extremely important to hollow out the N-type conductive semiconductor layer to remove dirt and provide an intrinsic semiconductor in the recess B1 to prevent the generation of leakage current. It is preferable that this gouging does not go beyond the I-type semiconductor layer and do not reach 0CTI+ for the first electrode. This one
By oxidizing the surface of the layer to silicon oxide, leakage current could be further reduced.

The present invention uses a laser beam to form an open groove, not just on the second electrode, but in the process of forming the open groove 91S (20) with a margin equal to the thickness of the type 1 semiconductor layer, which is 0.2μ or more below the second electrode. It is industrially important to maintain the strength.

Further, as shown in Fig. 4, the first frame corner opening groove (56)
An open groove (57) having a second frame angle was formed on the end side of the frame to form a separation groove (62). It is important that this second frame angle groove does not protrude at least the second conductive 11Q (4).The surface of this second frame corner groove should be exposed to the same laser output as the third groove in FIG. 2(C). However, it may be made stronger to form a fourth
As shown in Figure (B), the semiconductor (3) below, the first conductor? It is extremely easy to cut the Ii film (2) at the same time, and at this time, the first frame corner opening groove (56)
There is a gap of 50 to 500 μ between the crI+
(61) remained, and the formation of the second opening 14Xj prevented the half 4K (7]) filled in the first opening 14Xj from scattering.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 2 (C'), a plurality of elements (31>, (11)) were connected in series at the connecting portion (12).

At the same time, the external extraction electrode (5) can be manufactured without adding an extra process to the collar ring, making it possible to manufacture the photoelectric conversion device at low cost using the LS method.

Figures 2 (D) and 4 (B) show the present invention being further completed as a photoelectric conversion device, that is, a silicon nitride film (2
1) was formed to a thickness of 500 to 2,000 to prevent leakage current between each element.

These were filled with an organic resin (22) such as polyimide, polyamide, Kapton or epoxy.

Thus, for the irradiation light (10), each element was 11
” 14.35 mm, connection part (12) November 5011
, If of external extraction electrode part (5)] 10 mm, peripheral part (
69) 4mm J area (192mm x 14
．． 35 mm x 40 steps 1102 cnt or 91.8%
) was able to be obtained. As a result, the segment is 10.
If the conversion efficiency is 6%, the panel will have a conversion efficiency of 9.7% (Δ
Ml (100mW/cJ)) at 11. (iW
It was possible to have an output power of .

Furthermore, since no metal mask is used, there is no industrial problem in the manufacturing process of large-area panels, making it extremely suitable for large-area, low-cost mass production for generating large amounts of power.

The above YAG laser spot layer has an output of 3 to 5 W (
30μ>, 5 to 8W (50μ), but by further reducing the spot diameter based on the technical concept, this connection part can be made smaller and the effective area as a photoelectric conversion device can be further improved. It has an inventive step in that it can be done.

FIG. 3 shows the external extraction electrode (5), <41) of the present invention in a longitudinal sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1 (BB'), (CC').

Figure 3 (A) shows the +11 structure of the first external lead-out electrode part and corresponds to Figure 2, but the outside B]9 lead-out electrode part (5) is connected to the external connection body (47). Contact Bano 1-(49
), and this pad (49) is connected to the second electrode (upper electrode) (4) of the adjacent element. At this time, even if the pressure on the external connection body (47) is too strong and the pano 1- (49) penetrates the semiconductor (3) to the first four-electrode film (53) below it and short-circuits, An open groove (13') is provided so as not to be in contact with the first electrode (2) of the element, and the electrode part (5)
The first butt (49) of the element is electrically separated from the first electrode (2) of the element located next to it. The outside part of the saw is the end of the substrate (1), and both the conductor and the semiconductor are cut and separated by the side surface (20').

Furthermore, FIG. 3(B) shows the structure of the second outer 91 (extracting electrode part). A band (48) is connected to the side surface (55) by a second conductive material (1B'>). Furthermore, the band (48) is in electrical connection contact with the external connector (46). Here too, there is an open groove (20', end a++ <2o"> with lipano l" (
, 18) are completely electrically isolated from other photoelectric conversion elements, and have the feature that a photoelectric conversion device can be manufactured using one panel without using any alignment mask.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of (]) -D') and (E) in FIG. 1 of the present invention.

In FIG. 4(A), two elements (31), < 11
) and a connecting portion (12). Side edge (70
) and in the vicinity thereof, the CTF (59) and the second conductive film (58) remain, as shown in FIG. 4 (13). Therefore, even if these conductors remain, it is necessary to prevent the characteristics of the element (31), <11) from deteriorating, and furthermore, even if this conductor (69) remains, this part must be connected to the outer frame (60). It has a structure that allows it to be fixed in place. That is, along the side edge of the substrate, the first conductive groove (2) forms an open groove (56) with a first frame angle. Further, a semiconductor (3) and a second conductive layer (4) are formed to cover the opening groove of the first frame corner. After that, an opening a (57) of a second frame angle is provided over the α1;1 side of the opening groove (56) of the first frame angle, and this opening groove is made by LS, and the conductor (
2>, <4), the semiconductor (3) is cut and separated.

Then, even if the second conductive film (4) and the first conductive film (61) are connected to each other, a short circuit between the electrodes (2) and (4) is caused by the opening groove (56) at the first frame corner. can be prevented. Moreover, the conductor (69) is pressurized by the frame (60) made of aluminum shavings, carbon fiber, etc.
31>, <11), there is no characteristic deterioration of any kind. That is,
For the first time, the side edges could be stably mechanically reinforced by the outer frame, etc., due to the vortex (62) formed by the two frame angle open grooves (56), <57). This outer frame does not cause any deterioration of the element, and even if the frame and the photoelectric conversion device are hardened together with resin (63), it is possible to obtain a sufficiently reliable device.

Furthermore, this panel is packaged by assembling 6 or 4 panels in series in a frame, for example, 40cm
It is possible to provide a high power panel of NEDO standard of mX40CIll.

In addition, this NEDO standard panel is made by laminating another glass plate using Seaflex on the opposite side (upper side in the drawing) of the photoelectric conversion device 1ffi of the present invention,
It is also effective to place a photoelectric conversion device between them to increase mechanical strength against wind pressure, rain, etc.

In FIGS. 1 to 4, light was incident from the lower glass plate. However, the present invention does not limit the light incident side to the lower side.

That is, by using a substrate having a flexible insulating surface, such as anodized aluminum, and setting the second electrode on the top surface to only 11゛0, photoelectric conversion is performed by incidence from the top surface. make it possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a panel of the photoelectric conversion device H'l of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the manufacturing process of the photoelectric conversion device of the present invention. 3 and 4 are enlarged vertical cross-sectional views of the photoelectric conversion device of FIG. 1 of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A first electrode of a first conductive film on a substrate having an insulating surface, a non-single crystal semiconductor on the electrode, and a second electrode on the semiconductor.
A plurality of photoelectric conversion elements each having a second electrode of a conductive film are electrically connected to each other in series, and a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements having a second electrode of a conductive film and a second electrode of a conductive film are electrically connected to each other in series. A groove is provided around a first frame that electrically separates the conductive pattern from the first electrode of the element, and the non-single crystal semiconductor and the second conductive film are provided to cover the groove. , by providing at least the second conductive film with a second open groove along the open groove on the end side of the first frame circumferential open groove, the first or second conductive film in the vicinity of the edge of the substrate is A photoelectric conversion device characterized in that a conductive film and a first or second electrode of the element are electrically separated from each other. 2. Forming a first conductive film on a substrate having an insulating surface, forming a first groove in the conductive film to separate first electrodes of adjacent photoelectric conversion elements, and forming a first conductive film on the substrate. a step of forming a first frame circumferential open groove in the peripheral portion along the end near the end; the element region; the first open groove;
a step of forming a non-single crystal semiconductor and a second conductive film on the semiconductor so as to cover the opening groove around the first frame; 2 electrodes are formed along the edge of the substrate, and at least the second conductive film is formed with a second groove on the frame periphery near the edge of the substrate and an opening on the first frame periphery. By forming the first and second conductive films on the edge side of the groove, the first and second conductive films remaining between the open groove around the second frame and the edge of the substrate are electrically isolated from the element. A method for manufacturing a photoelectric conversion device, characterized by forming a photoelectric conversion device. 3. A method for manufacturing a photoelectric conversion semiconductor device according to claim 2, characterized in that the opening of the frame periphery is formed by irradiating laser light.