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Highly conductive transparent films are of significant interest in the field of thin-film photovoltaics. ZnO-based films in particular have attracted much interest due to the low cost of materials with good film properties for CIGS and a-Si/µc-Si solar modules. Investigations have been ongoing at Fraunhofer IST into ceramic ZnO:Al₂O₃ targets from different manufacturers. This paper presents a comparison of target material, sputter characteristics and film properties of ZnO:Al. Sputter characteristics are in this case determined by voltage and current data showing arcing rates at different power loads and process pressures. ZnO:Al films are deposited by DC magnetron sputtering with various deposition parameters (e.g oxygen flow, total pressure, sputtering power and substrate temperature) and investigated with respect to optical and electrical properties.

Multi-wire sawing is currently the most efficient slicing technology for silicon wafers in the photovoltaic industry. Nevertheless, the wafer producers are faced with major cost reductions in the production process and the demand for high-quality, very thin wafers with a total thickness variation less than 10% of the average wafer thickness. One approach to this is the understanding of the role of slurry, specifically the abrasives used in the multi-wire sawing process. In the past few years, more and more scientific investigations have been conducted and are summarised in this article.