@article{joe2015312,
author={{Afa, Iduabo John and L¨®pez, Gema and Villasclaras, Pablo Rafael Ortega},
title={Etching Techniques for Thinning Silicon Wafer for Ultra Thin High Efficiency Interdigitated Back Contact Solar Cells},
journal={Journal of Optoelectronics Engineering},
volume={3},
number={1},
pages={7--14},
year={2015},
url={http://pubs.sciepub.com/joe/3/1/2},
issn={2372-4781},
abstract={High efficiency Interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells help reduce the area of solar panels needed to supply sufficient amount of energy for household consumption. We believe that a properly passivated IBC cell with the aid of light trapping schemes can maintain an efficiency of 20% even with thickness under 20 ¦Ìm. In this work, photolithography and etching techniques are used for deep etching of crystalline Silicon (c-Si) wafer to a thickness less than 20 ¦Ìm. Tetramethylammoniumhydroxide (TMAH) wet anisotropic etching and plasma based Reactive ion etching (RIE) are used with SPR 220-7.0 and SU-8 photoresists. SiO<SUB>2</SUB> is used as making layer for TMAH etching. TMAH etch of a 4-inch c-Si wafer is done at a temperature of 80¡ãC for 8 hours. RIE of a quarter of a 4-inch c-Si wafer is done for 3 hours using SF<SUB>6</SUB> as reactive gas. A baseline photolithography process flow for SU-8 photoresist deposition was developed. The etch rates of TMAH etch techniques fall within the range of 0.3 ¨C 0.45 ¦Ìm/min and etch rates for RIE fall within the range of 1.2 ¨C 1.8 ¦Ìm/min. The RIE shows capability of achieving smaller thickness sizes with greater advantages than the TMAH etching technique.},
doi={10.12691/joe-3-1-2}
publisher={Science and Education Publishing}
}