Structuring Solutions

Innovative structuring concepts for solar cell production

For the photovoltaic industry, Merck develops a broad range of tailored structuring materials enabling simplified, environmentally friendly processes, improved efficiency and higher production speed.

If functional layers on solar cells need to be structured, alternative patterning methods such as photolithography, laser ablation, or plasma etching have certain disadvantages: They are either rather expensive or may cause damages due to particle generation on the surface of the substrates. Merck's unique isishape SolarEtch^® concept offers screen-printable and dispensable etching materials allowing easy, efficient and fast patterning.

Your advantages - Fast structuring time and low material consumption

Requiring only a simple 3-step structuring process, Merck's isishape® structuring materials permit highly economical large-scale production using standard equipment for printing, etching and rinsing. The isishape^® concept enables low material consumption as well as fast structuring time and effectively controls paste spreading behavior. By replacing conventional production technologies, isishape® enables or simplyfies new cell concepts, e.g. “Selective Emitter” Moreover, the use of environmentally friendly isishape^® products allows easy cleaning without organic detergents, resulting in very low organic concentration in rinse water (Biological/Chemical Oxygen Demand BOD/COD).

Applications - The better alternative

isishape SolarEtch^® products can be used to selectively etch antireflective coatings and passivation layers on solar cells. According to leading R&D institutes, the isishape^® concept is particularly recommended for use in the production of new-generation high-efficiency solar cells.

The technology - How does it work?

isishape^® is able to etch layers of nearly all types of transparent conductive oxides, (e.g. ITO, ZnO), antireflective layers or diffusion barriers (e.g. SiO₂, SiN_x), semiconductors (e.g. a-Si, poly-Si) and metals (e.g. aluminum). The innovative isishape^® concept enables a simple structuring process consisting of only four processing steps: printing of etching paste on substrate regions where material needs to be removed, heating up the substrate triggering the etching, rinsing in DI water to clean the substrate from removed layer material, and finally drying the substrate. isishape^® materials have already proven their suitability under mass production conditions in various fields of applications targeting different etchable layer systems.

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