Sono-Tek Corp., a Milton, N.Y.-based company specializing in ultrasonic coating systems for advanced energy manufacturing, has introduced an ultrasonic coating system designed to meet the needs of spray pyrolysis applications often used in thin-film solar cell manufacturing.
The FlexiCoat SC features a low oxygen (less than 3% oxygen), fully sealed spray chamber with 1/2′ lexan windows for safely spraying solvents at high temperatures. A high temperature heat plate (up to 500 degrees C) is used to heat substrates prior to ultrasonic coating, resulting in uniform pyrolyzed transparent conductive oxide layers, such as indium or zinc metal compounds, onto thin-film solar cell substrates.
Ultrasonic spray pyrolysis offers several advantages over other deposition methods such as sputtering or pulsed deposition, the company says. Ultrasonic deposition is a less expensive, simpler process by comparison, and is easier to scale, requiring no vacuum and less gas for processing than other coating methods. Coating results have been shown to be uniform, thin and crack-free, with high transmittance and conductive properties. In addition, this rapid thermal processing coating technique allows the ability to control desired morphology characteristics.
SonoTek: (845) 795-2020
SOURCE: SonoTek
