Photovoltaic Manufacturing Cost and Throughput Improvements for Thin Film CIGS-Based Modules: Final Technical Report, July 1998 -- September 2001

This report describes the marked improvements made of the production line under the PVMaT program: successfully developed a high-speed, all-laser, monolithic integration process for CIGS-based modules on polyimide substrates; exceeded PVMaT goals for scribing rate and total interconnect width; developed robust, well-controlled techniques for selective scribing; improved CIGS evaporation sourcesto allow uniform, controllable delivery; completed foundation required to integrate higher CIGS deposition rates into the production line; developed well-controlled Se delivery system to minimize Se consumption; successfully integrated the parallel-detector spectroscope ellipsometer (PDSE) into a production CIGS deposition chamber; collected useful, in-situ data with PDSE; validated theperformance of the X-ray fluorescometry (XRF) sensor in the production CIGS deposition chamber; and successfully incorporated the XRF sensor into the control architecture of the production CIGS deposition chamber.