Wavelength and pulse duration effects in laser scribing of thin films

Conference · Wed Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1997

OSTI ID:302538

Matulionis, I; Nakade, S; Compaan, A D ^[1]

---

1. Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy

The authors have studied the performance of six different types of laser systems for scribing of the polycrystalline thin-film PV materials: ZnO, SnO{sub 2}, CdTe, CIGS, Mo, and Si. The laser systems were KrF and XeCl excimer, copper vapor, quasi-cw Nd:YAG (both Q-switched and mode-locked), and flashlamp-pumped Nd:YAG. The wavelengths were 248, 308, 511 and 578, 532, and 1064 nm. Pulses included a 250 ns long train of 0.1 ns pulses (mode-locked) and single pulses from 8 ns and 250 ns. The excimer lasers (KrF and XeCl) were found to give high quality scribes for all materials, including the transparent oxides, ZnO:Al and SnO{sub 2}:F; however, vaporization rates were relatively low. Longer pulse durations (e.g., 90 ns) yielded higher rates of removal (up to 4 {micro}m per J/cm{sup 2}) for some materials. The high pulse energy available from the KrF laser allowed evaluation of beam delivery to a long narrow line which could eliminate the need for beam scanning and provide other advantages for scribing. The authors find that glass-side scribing, as opposed to film-side scribing, works well for Mo and CdTe films.

• Sponsoring Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)
• OSTI ID: 302538
• Report Number(s): CONF-970953--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CADMIUM TELLURIDES
COPPER SELENIDE SOLAR CELLS
COPPER SELENIDES
FABRICATION
GALLIUM SELENIDES
INDIUM SELENIDE SOLAR CELLS
INDIUM SELENIDES
LASERS
MOLYBDENUM
PULSE TECHNIQUES
SILICON
SURFACE FINISHING
TIN OXIDES
WAVELENGTHS
ZINC OXIDES