Plasma Process Development

After working for more than 20 years on PE CVD processes (mostly for Photovoltaics) now plasma process activities are focused to sputter processes and sputter technique. That are:

a) Magnetron development for special applications

Although sputter magnetrons are very well developed and available from small to large size with industrial quality, there is may be a need for optimized or new magnetron concepts for layer systems like:

• epitaxial crystalline layers,
  
• layers applicable in new starting fields like lithium ion batteries, hydrogen technology, plasma chemistry for hydrogen storage and transport, photovoltaics and fuel cells.

b) Sputter process and thin film development for photovoltaic

Silicon solar cells now have  reached an efficiency of 24 to 26%, which comes closer and closer to the theoretical limit. So only further progress in efficiency in next 10 years can be achieved with tandem solar cells with efficiencies of more than 30%. Several layers of such tandem cells will be made by sputtering (optical layers, TCO-layers, semiconductor layers etc.) following new cell concepts.

By this way, magnetron sputtering as a very cost effective and industry proven technology,  should find more and more application at photovoltaic.