Film forming apparatus, film forming method, and method for manufacturing solar cell

Abstract

The present invention provides technique capable of performing efficient and reliable cooling when a metal layer is formed on a to-be-coated substrate by sputtering. A substrate holder transport mechanism (3) is provided in a vacuum tank (2) formed with a single vacuum atmosphere, and the substrate holder transport mechanism (3) has an out-side transfer section (33a) for transporting a substrate holder (11) for holding a to-be-coated substrate (50) to a predetermined direction along a transportation path, an in-side transfer section (33c) for transporting the substrate holder (11) along the path in a direction opposite to the transport direction of the out-side transfer section (33a), and a transport folding section (30B) returns the substrate holder (11) from the out-side transfer section(33a) to the in-side transfer section (33c) while maintaining the vertical relationship. The out-side transfer portion (33a) passes through a cooling region (7) and the in-side transfer portion (33c)passes through first and second metal layer deposition regions (4, 5).

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to the technology of a film forming apparatus for forming a film on one surface of a substrate by sputtering in a vacuum, and in particular to the technology of forming a metal layer on one surface of a substrate for a heterojunction solar cell. Background technique [0002] In recent years, solar cells have been put into practical use as clean and safe energy sources, and among them, heterojunction type solar cells have attracted attention. [0003] Heterojunction solar cells have higher conversion efficiency than monocrystalline silicon solar cells, and because they use an amorphous silicon layer, they have advantages such as being able to reduce the amount of silicon used. [0004] In recent years, a so-called rear contact structure has been proposed as a heterojunction solar cell that does not have an electrode on the light receiving surface but has a back electrode on the back surface opposite to the light receiving s...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0009] In addition, the above-mentioned problem occurs not only when a metal layer is formed on a substrate for film formation of a heterojunction solar cell, but also when a sputtered film made of metal is formed on a substrate for film formation.

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