Investigación

 

Laser scribing of fluorine doped tin oxide for serial interconnection of CdS/CdTe solar cells

 

D. Jiménez-Olarte^a, O. Vigil-Galán^a, J. de la Rosa^b, D. Seuret-Jiménez^c, and G. Contreras-Puente^a

 

^a Escuela Superior de Física y Matemáticas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México DF, C.P. 07738, México.

^b Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Mecánica y Eléctrica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México DF, C.P. 07738, México.

^c Centro de Investigaciones en Ingeniería y Ciencias Aplicadas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Morelos, C.P. 62209, México. e-mail: dajimenez@ipn.mx

 

Received 21 November 2014;
accepted 30 January 2015

 

Abstract

In thin film PV-module production the scribing of transparent conducting oxides, like fluorine doped tin oxides thin films, is performed with serial interconnection of solar cells without the use of external wires. This scribing is usually carried out with infrared and ultraviolet lasers, while for the other films that complete the solar cell structure, the scribing is performed with visible laser light. Thus, the use of only one laser in all scribing steps in the monolithic interconnection process could reduce the manufacture cost of PV-CdTe modules.

In this work the laser scribing process on fluorine doped tin oxides is investigated using a Nd:YAG pulsed laser of 532 nm of wavelength with pulse duration of 50 nanoseconds. The corresponding threshold fluence was measured and the mechanism of interaction of laser radiation with the semiconductor oxide was studied, as well as the temperature distribution along the film and the time when it reached its maximum value after applying the pulse of radiation on the SnO2 :F layer.

Keywords: Laser scribing; fluorine doped tin oxide; threshold fluene; simulation; temperature profile; 532 nm.

 

PACS: 88.40.H; 88.40.jm.

 

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by SENER-Conacyt (project 000000000117891) from Sectorial found of Conacyt-Secretaría de Energía-Sustentabilidad Energética.

The authors acknowledge to Laboratorio Nacional de Microscopía Electrónica de Alta Resolución (LANE) CINVES-TAV for technical assistance.

O. Vigil-Galán, G. Contreras-Puente and J. de la Rosa acknowledge support from COFAA and EDI of IPN.

The authors would like to thank A. D. Compaan from the University of Toledo for his helpful advices.

 

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