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Product Briefing Outline: Bekaert Advanced Coatings, has introduced a one-piece AZO rotatable target for thin film photovoltaic (PV) applications. The new AZO rotatable target is the latest member of Bekaert’s extensive range of rotatable sputter targets with materials for the deposition of TCO layers and back contact used in photovoltaic cells. TCO layers are essential building blocks for all thin film PV (amorphous silicon (a-Si), cadmium telluride (CdTe) and CI(G)S) applications, where optical transmission and electrical conductivity are required simultaneously.

Problem: Thin-film solar cells heavily rely on the deposition of thin layers. Besides thin film deposition of the absorbing semiconductor, the layer stack also consists of two thin film electrodes: a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer at one side of the absorbing semiconductor to let the light enter and a back reflector metal contact at the other side. Each of these layers has to be deposited with an accurate control of composition, morphology and thickness in a uniform way over ever increasing substrate sizes. Furthermore, in order to keep track with ever growing requirements like higher volume production with better cell performance while reducing the cost of ownership, more efficient production methods are needed.

Solution: The newly developed AZO target consists of one piece (no rings, nor segments, which gives a more stable and better controlled sputter process). The AZO material is directly applied to the backing tube during the production (no need for low melting point bonding material). This homogeneous bonding allows better cooling through optimized thermal conductivity and the ability to use higher sputter power densities. The new one-piece AZO rotatable target ensures high quality TCO layers, superior deposition rates leading to lower cost of ownership, and a firm stability over the life time of the solar cells.

Applications: Rotatable sputter technology for PVD. Transparent Conductive Oxide (TCO) in thin film PV cells

Platform: Available in lengths up to 152inches in several thicknesses and standard or dog bone shapes. All conventional types of target fixations are supported.

Availability: Currently available.