Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

This is the third course in a three course set: MT 101, MT 102, and MT104. The set is required for graduation with an AAS degree in Microelectronics Technology with the Solar Voltaic Manufacturing option and the Certificate of Completion in Solar Voltaic Manufacturing..

Includes the following manufacturing processes:, crystal growth, ingot shaping and wafering, oxidation, lithography, etch, deposition, diffusion doping, test and sort.

This course may be offered in an on-campus format or in a distance learning format on the world-wide-web.

• Describe the single crystal wafer substrate formation sequence and the processes involved with industry professionals.
• Describe basic construction sequences of solar cells, and the processes used in their manufacture, with industry professionals.
• Use developed abilities and habits in the information methods of the industry to communicate and find information on: business news, processes, advances, technical data, etc.

Course activities will include a variety of learning activities, such as: instructor delivered lectures, demonstrations, and/or student discussions stressing key topics in the course. In preparation for the lecture portion of the course, students will be expected to complete all reading and problem/question homework assignments.

Assessment of student performance in this course will consist of written examinations. Assessment may also include oral presentations, written reports, and other class projects.

1.       Photovoltaic systems

1.1.    Cells, Modules, Arrays, Panels

1.2.    Collectors, Inverters, System integration

1.3.    Voltage/Current, AC/DC, Series/Parallel, Power

1.4.    Energy, Efficiency, Conversion, Solar Spectrum, Photons Usable Energy, Heat

2.       PV Devices

2.1.    Diodes (review), Biasing, Built-in Voltage

2.2.    Photoelectric Effect

2.3.    Drift and Diffusion Currents

2.4.    PV conversion (review)

3.       Manufacturing Flow

3.1.    Silicon: Sand – MGS – EGS – SGS

3.2.    Wafering: Crystal Growth – Ingot Shaping – Slicing – Surface Finish

3.3.    Cell Processing: Texture Etch – Junction Doping – Edge Isolation Etch – Passivation Oxidation – Anti-Reflective Coating Deposition – Metallization/Patterning – Testing

4.       Silicon Purification

4.1.    Making Metallurgical Grade Silicon from Sand

4.2.    Making Electronics or Solar Grade Silicon from MGS

4.2.1. TCS, Distillation, Siemens Process

5.       Crystal Growth

5.1.    Define: crystalline, polycrystalline, and amorphous.

5.2.    Define crystal orientation: Miller index and crystal plane.

5.3.    Describe the Czochralski method of growing crystals.

5.4.    Poly Casting

5.5.    Thinfilm formation

6.       Wafer Preparation

6.1.    Ingot shaping: sawing

6.2.    Slicing: wire saw

6.3.    Surface finish: lapping – etching - polishing

7.       Cell Processing

7.1.    Texture Etch

7.1.1. Concept of reflection and adsorption

7.1.2. Wet etch processing

7.1.3. Wet etch equipment

7.2.    Junction Doping

7.2.1. Diffusion processing and equipment

7.2.1.1.              Concept of diffusion

7.2.2. Ion Implant processing and equipment

7.3.    Edge Isolation

7.3.1. Dry etching: processing and equipment

7.3.2. Laser etching: processing and equipment

7.4.    Passivation Oxidation

7.4.1. Oxidation reaction and diffusion

7.4.2. Processing and Equipment

7.5.    AntiReflective coating

7.5.1. Concept of reflection and wave interaction with thin films

7.5.2. CVD deposition: equipment and processing

7.5.3. PVD deposition: equipment and processing

7.6.    Metallization

7.6.1. Concept of metal contact formation to silicon

7.6.2. Contact to both poles of the diode

7.6.3. Screen Printing process and equipment

7.6.4. Deposition/Lithography/Etching process and equipment

7.7.    Firing

7.7.1. Concept of solder paste/etching/sintering

7.7.2. Process and equipment

7.8.    Testing

7.8.1. Process and equipment

7.8.2. Test parameters: V, I, P, efficiency

7.8.3. Sorting