RASIRC presents water vapor delivery for CIGSe and other thin film vacuum processes

IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, SAN DIEGO, USA: RASIRC, the steam purification company, will present data detailing how ultrapure water vapor can enhance thin film integrity in ALD, MOCVD, and sputtering processes, at the 35th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference.

The poster, Water Vapor Delivery for CIGSe and Other Thin Film Vacuum Processes, highlights a method for control and delivery of water vapor that excludes particles, micro-droplets, volatile gases, and other opposite charged species from being transferred to the carrier gas. The conference is being held in Honolulu, Hawaii from June 20-25, 2010. The poster will be presented June 24 at 10:30 AM.

ALD, MOCVD, and sputtering processes are commonly used to generate TCO layers and modify crystal structures via grain size or defect repair. Direct flow control of the water needed in such applications is difficult due to the expansion of 1 gram of water to 1,244 cc of gas at room temperature and atmospheric pressure.

Volume flows needed in sputtering applications are often less than 0.1 sccm. The presentation explains a method used for control and delivery of water vapor that can determine actual selectivity in vacuum processes and the resulting improved thin film layer integrity.

"The ability to precisely deliver water vapor free from atmospheric contaminants is critical to film integrity,” said RASIRC founder and president Jeffrey Spiegelman. "We have found methods of delivering pure water vapor which not only improve results, but that are safe, cost effective, and easy to employ."

Also look for the paper, Purified Steam for Industrial Thermal Oxidation Processes, authored by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and RASIRC. The paper shows that using a water vapor atmosphere instead of oxygen minimizes the thermal budget and cost of the silicon solar cell fabrication process since the growth rate increases by an order of magnitude.

RASIRC will be exhibiting its ultrapure steam purification products at booth #329.