Oerlikon Systems and Meyer Burger have signed a strategic distribution and cooperation agreement for the SOLARIS thin-film coating equipment.
As part of the agreement, Meyer Burger's sales and service organization will represent the SOLARIS for crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV application in most regions, such as China, Taiwan, Europe, the Middle East, India and the Americas. Furthermore, the two companies will work together to further develop anti-reflective coatings and other process steps within the manufacturing process of c-Si cells.
The SOLARIS system is a high-speed, single-wafer sputter system, similar in design to other manufacturing systems from Oerlikon for optical discs and semiconductors. The company says the system is flexible in its possible configurations, such as for anti-reflective coatings and back-side passivation and metallization for c-Si cells.
According to Oerlikon, the machine is able to treat standard wafer formats from 125 mm2 to 156 mm2, with an average amounting up to 1,200 wafers per hour. Changing substrate formats, layer materials or processes requires minimal time, and a new system at a customer site can be installed and ramped up in less than one week, the company adds.
SOURCES: Oerlikon, Meyer Burger
