Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T00:38:33.363Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Environmentally benign vacuum deposition with air-to-vacuum-to-air technology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

K.L. Barth  and
W.S. Sampath
K.L. Barth
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523
W.S. Sampath
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523
Get access

Abstract

The deposition of thin films and coatings frequently results in the generation of toxic waste, volatile organic compounds, or large amounts of waste water and sludge. Vapor deposition in vacuum offers a more environmentally benign alternative, but is not prevalent outside of the microelectronics industry due to economic reasons. However, vacuum coating could be more widely accepted, and could potentially replace nonvacuum deposition methods, if either the cycle time or costs associated with vacuum coating were reduced. In order to reduce the cycle time for vacuum deposition, a robust system for continuous air-to-vacuum-to-air (AVA) transportation of discreet substrates has been developed and constructed in this study. This technology allows the insertion of discrete components into vacuum at high rates, without the need for venting the deposition chamber. Substrates have been repeatedly transported from atmosphere to 10−5 Torr in under a second. The capability of the AVA technology was studied through the deposition and characterization of CdS and CdTe films and photovoltaic devices. With the AVA technology, the need for venting the vacuum chamber to insert the substrates and subsequent pumping of the system for deposition is eliminated. The AVA technology could be applied to the processing of silicon wafers, compact disks, optical components, solar cells, cutting tools, and fasteners.

Type
Environmentally Benign Materials and Processes
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , March 1995 , pp. 493 - 496
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1Horoff, S., Plating and Surface Finishing, Feb. (1986).Google Scholar
2Marce, R. E., Plating and Surface Finishing, Nov. (1982).Google Scholar
3Horelick, P. D., Fourth EPA/AES Conf. Adv. Pollution Control, FL, 1982.Google Scholar
4Poll, G. H., Report on Reilly Plating, Cadmium Council, NY, 5 10017.Google Scholar
5Schiller, S., Heisig, U., and Panzer, S., Electron Beam Technology (John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1982).Google Scholar
6Sarma, S. V., Sampath, W. S., Rajan, S. N., and Wilbur, P. J., US patent 5,032,421, awarded July 1991.Google Scholar
7Rajan, S. N., Ph.D. Dissertation, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (1992).Google Scholar
8Barth, K. L. and Sampath, W. S., Proceedings of the 1994 NSF Design and Manufacturing Grantees Conference (Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Jan. 1994), p. 505.Google Scholar
9Chu, T. L., Chu, S. S., and Ang, S. T., J. Appl. Phys. 64, 1233–1237 (1988).Google Scholar
10Zweibel, K., Harnessing Solar Power: The Photovoltaics Challenge (Plenum Press, New York, 1990).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11Khan, N. A., Ph.D. Dissertation, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (1992).Google Scholar
12Bonnet, D., Henrichs, B., and Richter, H., 22nd IEEE PVSC Conf. (1991), Vol. II, p. 1165.Google Scholar
13Nolan, J. F., 23rd IEEE PVSC Conf. (1993), p. 34.Google Scholar
14Mitchel, K. W., Eberspacher, C., Cohen, F., Avery, J., and Bottenberg, W., 18th IEEE PVSC Conf. (1985), p. 1360.Google Scholar
15Chu, T. L. and Chu, S., Int. J. Solar Energy 12, 121 (1992).Google Scholar
16Chopra, K. L. and Das, S. R., Thin Film Solar Cells (Plenum Press, New York, 1983).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17Ullal, H. S., Zweibel, K., and von Roedern, B.G., Thin-Film CdTe and CuInSe2 Photovoltaic Technologies, NREL, Golden, CO, NREL/TP-413-5752, October (1993).Google Scholar
18Suntola, T., MRS Bull. XVIII (10), 45 (1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19Chu, T. L., Current Topics in Photovoltaics (Academic Press Ltd., New York, 1988), Vol. 3.Google Scholar