Preparing and treating an optically scattering transparent conducting oxide layer, comprises depositing the oxide layer on a substrate by moving the substrate in a coating system to a coating source, and coating the substrate

• Main Authors: NEIDHARDT, JOERG, LINS, VOLKER
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; German
• Published: 20.09.2012
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GLASSES, GLAZES, OR VITREOUSENAMELS; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; CHEMISTRY; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATIONOR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY IONIMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; ELECTRIC SOLID STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; ELECTRICITY; GLASS; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION INGENERAL; JOINING GLASS TO GLASS OR OTHER MATERIALS; METALLURGY; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL; SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; SURFACE TREATMENT OF FIBRES OR FILAMENTS MADE FROM GLASS,MINERALS OR SLAGS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF GLASS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THESURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION

The method comprises depositing a transparent conducting oxide-(TCO) layer (2) on a substrate (1) by moving the substrate in a coating system to a coating source with a ceramic or metallic target in a transport direction, coating the substrate, where the coating is carried out on a cold substrate at a temperature of up to 180[deg] C, and thermally activating the TCO-layer on a partial surface of the substrate via rapid thermal processing by impulsive energy using electromagnetic radiation or particle bombardment, where the impulsive energy is used for 1 mu s to 1 second. The method comprises depositing a transparent conducting oxide-(TCO) layer (2) on a substrate (1) by moving the substrate in a coating system to a coating source with a ceramic or metallic target in a transport direction, coating the substrate, where the coating is carried out on a cold substrate at a temperature of up to 180[deg] C, thermally activating the TCO-layer on a partial surface of the substrate via rapid thermal processing by impulsive energy using electromagnetic radiation or particle bombardment, where the impulsive energy is used for 1 mu s to 1 second, depositing a separation layer made of a material having low thermal conductivity, depositing a TCO-sacrificial layer (3) on the activated TCO-layer, and etching a surface of the TCO-layer stack by partial wet etching of the TCO-sacrificial layer to achieve a textured surface with light-diffusing property. The thermal activation step takes place along a line transverse to the transport direction, where the thermally activated surface portion extends over an entire width of the substrate across the transport direction. The TCO-sacrificial layer exhibits higher magnitude surface resistance and sheet resistance or lower transmission and better corroding ability than the TCO-layer. The TCO-layer having sheet resistance is deposited in the range of 5-15 Ohms. The TCO-sacrificial layer is deposited as a transparent or as a partially transparent layer. The TCO-layer and the TCO-sacrificial layer are made from same or different materials and doped during the deposition, where the doping of the layers correspond to each other or different from each other. Es wird ein Verfahren zur Herstellung und Behandlung einer optisch streuenden TCO-Schicht 2 auf einem Substrat 1 angegeben, bei dem eine Optimierung des Ätzprozesses zur Oberflächenstrukturierung mittels eines flexibleren Prozessfensters für das Ätzen zunächst die TCO-Schicht 2 abgeschieden und RTP-behandelt wird, bevor eine TCO-Opferschicht 3 abgeschieden wird, die dann beim Ätzen der Oberfläche des TCO-Schichtstapels zur Erzielung der lichtstreuenden Eigenschaft zumindest teilweise weggeätzt wird.