Influence of the ARC patterning method and annealing on the contact adhesion of Ni/Cu-plated solar cells

• Published in: Journal of the Korean Physical Society 2016, 68(9), , pp.1109-1113
• Main Authors: Baik, Jong Wook, Lee, Sang Hee, Lee, Doo Won, Lee, Soo Hong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Mathematical and Computational Physics; Particle and Nuclear Physics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Theoretical; 물리학
• ISSN: 0374-4884; 1976-8524
• DOI: 10.3938/jkps.68.1109

Ni/Cu two-step plating is a promising metallization technique because low contact resistance and improved contact adhesion can be achieved after the Ni annealing process. Also, narrow fingers, which are required for high-efficiency solar cells, can be formed by plating. However, the reliability of contact adhesion is still considered one obstacle to industrializing solar cells with plated metal contacts. In this experiment, the influence of ARC opening methods on plated contact adhesion was investigated because the roughnesses of the Si surfaces produced by using pico-second laser ablation and photolithography may be different. Also, the annealing process was conducted before and after plating Cu/Ag metal stacks. The sequence of the annealing can be significant for efficient production because plating is a wet process while annealing is a dry process. The contact adhesion was measured by using a peel-off test. The test was conducted on a 1.5-mm-wide by a 60 ~ 70- mm-long bus bar area. A 3.2-N/mm adhesion force was recorded as a highest average value along the bus bar.