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FPD Equipment > Product > Measurement System > RE-8000 measurement system for thin film solar cells

RE-8000 measurement system for thin film solar cells

Line Width Measuring System DR-8000

The RE-8000 is an automatic film thickness measurement system specifically designed for thin film solar cell panels. It is offered as a high-end model in the Lambda Ace series, which has already sold in excess of 1,200 units across the semiconductor manufacturing process field. The system provides an expanded measurement range, thanks to its incorporation of a spectroscopic ellipsometer that delivers both high measurement accuracy and repeatability. Even panels with surface textures giving complex structures can now be measured easily.
The RE-8000 meets all possible requirements, including multilayer film measurement, surface roughness analysis, and composition ratio measurement, in addition to measurement of the refractive index and extinction coefficient of diverse film types. Several other measurement functions for sheet resistance, transmission /reflectivity, and spectroscopic haze ratio, as well as a microscopy function, can all be added as options.

 

Add one or more optional heads to handle diverse materials

RE-8000 can put a necessary measuring tool together with thin film solar cell mainly on an ellipsometer freely.
It measures in-plane unevenness by measuring the panel of the large area (up to 2,200mm x 2,600mm). The measurement all; X/Y mapping is automatically possible.
By this function, It features a film monitor including amorphous silicon, TCO coating management and PECVD control on the glass substrate at the solar battery production line.
As for RE-8000, in-line and offline are flexible.

Head options

Standard

    
   
     
     

Option
 
 

Standard head：Spectroscopic Ellipsometer (SE) head

RE-8000 is a device equipped with strongest spectrum ellipsometer. The ellipso method employs RCA And features a highly precise measurement.
Due to 3 incidence angles, It shows power in the measurement of complicated the texture structure.
In addition, the choice of the spectroscope is possible From UV to IR.

*The ellipsometry method measures ψ (the amplitude ratio) and ⊿( phase shift). Than these data are analyzied a film thickness / the optical constant.

Specifications 1：
Spectroscopic Ellipsometer (SE)

  1. Measurement film thickness  10nm - 5μm
  2. Measurement wavelength range  370nm - 1700nm
  3. Measurement time  5sec / angle
  4. Measurement spot size   3mm
  5. Incidence angles   45° 60° 75°
  6. Ellipsometer method RCA
  7. Light source  Halogen lamp

Specifications 2：
Measurement material & items

  1. a-Si , a-SiGe , μc-Si , CdTe , CIGS
    SnO2 , ZnO , ITO , SiO2
  2. Film thickness , optical constant (n & k)
  3. Eg , Surface roughness , Composition , ρ , Carrier density

Option

Spectroscopic reflectometer (SR) head

High-sensitivity head that features a back side incidence type CCD image sensor in the detector. Film thickness measurement is performed quickly by a spectroscopic reflectometer. SR head can measure to up to four layers of film at the same time.
In addition, the use of optical constants (refractive index/extinction coefficient) determined by the ellipsometer ensures correct film thickness measurement.

Specifications:(SR)

  1. Measurement film thickness 10nm-30μm
  2. Measurement wavelength 400nm-1000nm

Sheet resistance head (Rs)

Measures sheet resistance in a probe head using four-point probes. Can also measure specific resistance using film thickness measurements from ellipsometer.

Specifications

  1. Probe head: TC,OS
  2. Measurement rang 1mΩ/□～1MΩ/□
  3. Material SnO2 , ZnO , Mo , Ag

Transmission/Reflectivity/Haze rate measurement head

Transmission/Reflectivity measurement head uses a back side incidence type CCD image sensor and an optional InGaAs image sensor to measure reflection/transmission across a wide range of wavelengths.
Haze rate measurement uses an integrating sphere and a spectroscope. It precisely measures the rate of scattering of light transmitted through the TCOs of the texture structures.

Specifications

  1. Spectroscopic transmission rate (spectroscopic reflectivity rate also an option)
  2. Measurement wavelength (standard): 350 nm - 1,100 nm
    Option: 900 nm - 1,650nm/1,600 nm - 2,350 nm
  3. Spectroscopic haze rate

 


Laser CF microscope head

Features contactless measurement using a laser microscope. Boasts performance that is equal to that of a stylus profiler using conventional methods.

Specifications

  1. Laser wave length 405nm
  2. Software: C/D , Line width , Pitch , Deepness ,and Roughness measurement

Spectroscopic Raman head

Enables evaluation of crystalline structure using laser Raman measurement. Compact, portable high-performance head uses fiber, which makes it easy to perform Raman measurement for large-size samples.

Specifications

  1. Laser wave length 532nm
  2. Spot size φ15μm

Applicable process of RE-8000

The system is capable of measuring textured multilayer panels with complex structures. At the same time, the RE-8000 can measure absorption coefficient and band gap (Eg) in addition to film thickness, and is also capable of evaluating film qualities such as the crystallinity of microcrystalline silicon films as well as the transmittance, haze ratio, sheet resistance, and other characteristics of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films. The RE-8000 is thus capable of simultaneously reducing production costs and improving power generation efficiency in solar panels by improving the conversion efficiency ratio of thin film solar cells, establishing stabilization technology, and improving processes and quality on the production line.

Related Information

February 4, 2010 ‹ News Letter ›
Official Overseas Launch of Measurement System for Thin Film Solar Cells（PDF：105KB）

February 4, 2010 ‹ News Letter for Chinese version ›
薄膜太阳能电池测量装置正式进军海外市场（PDF：189KB）

Inquiries related to RE-8000

Anyone wishing to receive detailed information on the following points should complete the inquiry form.

  • Comparison of representative ellipsometers (including structure of thin film silicon solar cells)
  • Evaluation of TCO using ellipsometer (SE) (film thickness/optical constant)
  • Evaluation of a-Si on TCO on glass using ellipsometer (SE) (film thickness/optical constant)
  • Measurement of a-Si film thickness using interferometry (SR)
  • Measurement of TCO sheet resistance
  • Measurement of TCO transmission/reflectance spectrum
  • Images from laser confocal microscope (texture roughness/laser scribe measurement)
  • Evaluation of μc-Si based on Raman spectroscopic measurement
  • TEM images