Integrating Deposition, Processing, and Characterization Equipment within the National Center for Photovoltaics;

The purpose of the process integration project of the National Center for Photovoltaics (NCPV) is to develop an infrastructure that will allow researchers to gain new knowledge that is difficult?if not impossible?to obtain with existing equipment. This difficulty is due, in part, to the state of our existing tool set, which lacks sufficient in-situ or real-time measurement capabilities, or lacksaccess to analytical tools where the sample remains in a controlled environment between deposition and processing or measurement. This new infrastructure will provide flexible and robust integration of deposition, processing (etching, annealing, etc.), and characterization tools via a standardized transfer interface such that samples move between tools in a controlled ambient. This concept willalso require the cooperation of experts from various material technologies and characterization disciplines to work directly with each other to obtain answers to key scientific and technological questions. Ultimately, this synergistic effort between NREL staff, universities, and the photovoltaic (PV) industry?around an integrated tool base?will add to the PV knowledge base and help move many PVtechnologies forward.