Device for creating processing data for photoelectric conversion layer, method for creating processing data, and laser processing system

Abstract

Provided is a device for creating processing data for a photoelectric conversion layer for displaying a graphic on a photoelectric conversion device. A device according to the present disclosure is for creating processing data for a plurality of grooves that penetrate a photoelectric conversion layer in the thickness direction to display a graphic in a prescribed region of the photoelectric conversion layer in a plan view as seen along the thickness direction, the device comprising a storage unit and a control unit. The storage unit stores first information including first line‑spacing information that indicates spacing associated with the arrangement of the plurality of grooves. The control unit executes a step for importing graphic data that includes information corresponding to the graphic, and a step for creating processing data on the basis of the graphic data and the first information. The processing data includes position information indicating the start points and the end points of the plurality of lines that are parallel in the first direction and spaced apart from each other on the basis of the first line‑spacing information.

Description

Apparatus for Creating Processing Data of a Photoelectric Conversion Layer, Method for Creating Processing Data, and Laser Processing System

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for creating processing data of a photoelectric conversion layer, a method for creating processing data, and a laser processing system.

[0002] Photoelectric conversion devices applicable to building materials for housing, vehicles, etc. are known. In addition to power generation performance, designability may be required for photoelectric conversion devices. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a photoelectric conversion device (thin film solar cell module) having colored characters, symbols, patterns, etc. when viewed from the light receiving surface side.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-343998

[0004] However, in the photoelectric conversion device of Patent Document 1, although characters, symbols, etc. are displayed, it may be difficult to display complex patterns such as paintings, for example. Therefore, it is required to be applicable regardless of the type and complexity of the pattern and to facilitate the processing of the photoelectric conversion layer for displaying the pattern.

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to solve the above problems and to provide an apparatus for creating processing data of a photoelectric conversion layer for displaying a pattern on the photoelectric conversion layer.

[0006] The apparatus according to the present disclosure is an apparatus for creating processing data of a plurality of grooves that penetrate in the thickness direction of a photoelectric conversion layer and display a pattern in a predetermined region of the photoelectric conversion layer in a plan view along the thickness direction. The apparatus includes a storage unit and a control unit. The storage unit stores first information including first line interval information indicating an interval associated with the arrangement of the plurality of grooves. The control unit executes a step of taking in pattern data including information corresponding to the pattern, and a step of creating the processing data based on the pattern data and the first information. The processing data includes position information indicating start points and end points of a plurality of lines that are parallel in a first direction with an interval based on the first line interval information.

[0007] According to this disclosure, a method for creating processing data for a photoelectric conversion layer to display a pattern on the photoelectric conversion layer can be provided.

[0008] This is a schematic top view showing an example of a photoelectric conversion device according to the first embodiment. This is a schematic end view along the IIA-IIA line shown in Figure 1. This is a schematic end view along the IIB-IIB line shown in Figure 1. This is a schematic enlarged top view showing a part of area A of the pattern display area DR shown in Figure 1. This is a schematic end view along the IVA-IVA line shown in Figure 3. This is a schematic end view along the IVB-IVB line shown in Figure 3. This is a schematic end view along the IVC-IVC line shown in Figure 3. This is a schematic top view illustrating a part of the display pattern shown in the pattern display area DR in the first embodiment. This is a schematic top view showing a further enlarged part of the area shown in Figure 5. This is a schematic top view showing an example of a display pattern. This is a schematic process end view showing the manufacturing method of the photoelectric conversion device 100. This is a schematic process end view showing the manufacturing method of the photoelectric conversion device 100. This is a schematic process end view showing the manufacturing method of the photoelectric conversion device 100. This is a schematic process end view showing the manufacturing method of the photoelectric converter 100. This is a schematic process end view showing the manufacturing method of the photoelectric converter 100. This is a schematic process end view showing the manufacturing method of the photoelectric converter 100. This is a schematic process end view showing the manufacturing method of the photoelectric converter 100. This is a schematic process end view showing the manufacturing method of the photoelectric converter 100. This is a schematic process end view showing the manufacturing method of the photoelectric converter 100. This is a flowchart showing an example of a method for creating groove information. This is a diagram showing an example of a basic unit. This is a schematic diagram showing an example of a first design line pattern. This is a schematic diagram showing an example of a second design line pattern. This is a schematic diagram showing a design line pattern of modified example 1. This is a schematic diagram showing a design line pattern of modified example 2. This is a schematic diagram to explain other examples of groove information. This is a flowchart showing an example of a method for creating processing data. This is a schematic diagram illustrating an apparatus for creating processing data. This is a diagram showing an example of a target pattern 400T. This is a schematic diagram showing the process for creating drawing data. This is a schematic diagram showing the process for creating drawing data. This is a schematic diagram showing the process for creating drawing data. This is a schematic diagram showing the process for creating drawing data. This is a schematic diagram showing the process for creating drawing data. This is a schematic diagram showing the process for creating drawing data. This is a schematic diagram showing the process for creating processing data. This is a schematic diagram showing the first pattern used for arranging common design lines. This is a schematic diagram showing the second pattern used for arranging dedicated design lines.This is a schematic diagram showing patterns used for arranging common design lines and dedicated design lines. This is a schematic diagram showing another example of the process of arranging design lines on a target pattern. This is a schematic diagram showing another example of the process of arranging design lines on a target pattern. This is a schematic diagram for explaining divided drawing data. This is a schematic diagram for explaining divided drawing data. This is a schematic diagram for explaining divided processing data. This is a schematic diagram showing the method of creating drawing data for Example 1. This is a schematic diagram showing the method of creating drawing data for Example 1, and shows an example of a design line pattern. This is a schematic diagram showing an example of a design line pattern for Example 2. This is a schematic diagram showing an example of a display pattern for Example 2. This is a schematic top view illustrating a part of the display pattern shown in the pattern display area DR in the second embodiment. This is a diagram showing an example of a basic unit. This is a schematic diagram showing an example of a first design line pattern. This is a schematic diagram showing an example of a second design line pattern. This is a schematic diagram showing a design line pattern for Modified Example 3. This is a schematic diagram showing a design line pattern for Modified Example 4. This is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of groove information. This figure shows an example of a design line pattern from Example 3. This is a schematic diagram showing an example of a display pattern from Example 3. This figure shows an example of a design line pattern from Example 4. This is a schematic diagram showing an example of a display pattern from Example 4. This figure shows an example of a laser processing system.

[0009] Embodiments of this disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, this disclosure is not limited by these embodiments. Furthermore, substantially identical components are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and redundant descriptions have been omitted where appropriate. For illustrative purposes, the dimensions of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated and are not necessarily to scale.

[0010] Furthermore, for the sake of clarity, the following terms will be used to indicate directions such as "up," "down," "right," "left," and "side," assuming the conditions of normal use. However, this does not mean that the usage conditions of the photoelectric converter related to this disclosure are limited.

[0011] In the diagrams described below, the mutually orthogonal X, Y, and Z axes are schematically shown for reference. In the following description, when simply referred to as the X direction, Y direction, or Z direction, it refers to the respective axis direction, including the two opposite directions (e.g., the -X direction and the +X direction).

[0012] 《First Embodiment》 Hereinafter, an example of a photoelectric conversion device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the photoelectric conversion device of this embodiment, the power generation unit including the photoelectric conversion layer has a pattern display area on which patterns such as pictures and characters are displayed. The patterns are formed using the photoelectric conversion layer and are visible from the light-receiving surface side and / or the opposite side (back side) of the light-receiving surface of the photoelectric conversion device.

[0013] (Basic Configuration of the Photoelectric Converter) The basic configuration of the photoelectric converter of this embodiment will be explained with reference to Figures 1 to 2B. Figure 1 is a schematic top view showing an example of the photoelectric converter of this embodiment. Figure 2A is a schematic end view along the line IIA-IIA shown in Figure 1. Figure 2B is a schematic end view along the line IIB-IIB shown in Figure 1.

[0014] The photoelectric conversion device 100 shown in Figures 1 to 2B is a photoelectric conversion module. The photoelectric conversion device 100 can be applied to building materials such as windows, roofs, and exterior walls of buildings. Here, a photoelectric conversion module is used as an example, but in this specification, a "photoelectric conversion device" may be any device that includes a power generation unit comprising a photoelectric conversion layer and a pair of electrodes, and may be a photoelectric conversion element with a power generation unit formed on a substrate, or a photoelectric conversion module having a structure in which the photoelectric conversion element (power generation unit) is sealed.

[0015] As shown in Figures 1 to 2B, the photoelectric conversion device 100 comprises a first substrate 1 and a second substrate 2, a power generation unit 3 including a photoelectric conversion layer, a pair of extraction electrodes 4A and 4B electrically connected to the power generation unit 3, a sealing member 6, and a filler material 7. In Figure 1, the filler material 7 and the second substrate 2 are not shown.

[0016] In this specification, the direction corresponding to the thickness direction of the photoelectric conversion layer is referred to as the "Z direction." The Z direction is the stacking direction of the laminate, which includes the electrodes and photoelectric conversion layer constituting the power generation unit 3. "Plan view" refers to a plan view taken from the Z direction. Furthermore, within a plane perpendicular to the Z direction, mutually orthogonal directions are referred to as the X direction and the Y direction. Here, the directions parallel to two adjacent sides on the rectangular main surface of the first substrate 1 are referred to as the X direction and the Y direction, respectively. Note that the shapes of these substrates are not limited to the examples shown.

[0017] As shown in Figures 2A and 2B, the first substrate 1 and the second substrate 2 face each other in the Z direction, with the power generation unit 3 in between. The peripheral edges of the first substrate 1 and the second substrate 2 are sealed from the outside by a sealing member 6. In this example, the first substrate 1 and the second substrate 2 are arranged so that the main surface 1a of the first substrate 1 and the main surface 2a of the second substrate 2 face each other. The photoelectric converter 100 is, for example, a double-sided light-receiving module. The photoelectric converter 100 may also be a single-sided light-receiving module that receives light from the back surface 1b (sometimes called the "light-receiving surface") opposite to the main surface 1a of the first substrate 1.

[0018] The main surface 1a of the first substrate 1 and the main surface 2a of the second substrate 2, together with the sealing member 6, define a sealing space in which the power generation unit 3 is located. A light-transmitting filler 7 may be placed between the power generation unit 3 and the second substrate 2.

[0019] The first substrate 1 and the second substrate 2 are, for example, glass substrates or resin substrates. The first substrate 1 is translucent. This allows power generation to be performed using light incident on the power generation unit 3 from the first substrate 1 side. The second substrate 2 may also be translucent. In this embodiment, both the first substrate 1 and the second substrate 2 are translucent. This allows the pattern formed on the power generation unit 3 to be visible from both the first substrate 1 side and the second substrate 2 side, as will be described later. In this specification, "translucency" means transmittance to visible light. "Having translucency" means, for example, that the transmittance of visible light is 50% or more, preferably 70% or more.

[0020] The power generation unit 3 is located on the main surface 1a of the first substrate 1. As shown in Figure 1, the power generation unit 3 may be located across substantially the entire main surface 1a.

[0021] As shown in Figures 2A and 2B, the power generation unit 3 comprises a laminate (hereinafter referred to as the "power generation layer") 30 including a lower electrode layer 31 and an upper electrode layer 33, and a photoelectric conversion layer 32 located between the lower electrode layer 31 and the upper electrode layer 33 in the Z direction.

[0022] The lower electrode layer 31 is located between the photoelectric conversion layer 32 and the first substrate 1. The lower electrode layer 31 is translucent. The upper electrode layer 33 may also be translucent. In this embodiment, both the lower electrode layer 31 and the upper electrode layer 33 are translucent transparent conductive layers. The transparent conductive layer may be a metal oxide layer such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide (IZO), or a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) layer.

[0023] The photoelectric conversion layer 32 is an opaque layer that is not transparent to light. "Not transparent to light" means that the transmittance of visible light is lower than that of the lower electrode layer 31, for example, less than 20%, preferably less than 10%.

[0024] The photoelectric conversion layer 32 is, for example, a perovskite layer containing a perovskite compound (perovskite semiconductor) as a photoelectric conversion material. The perovskite compound has the chemical formula ABX ３ This refers to a perovskite crystal structure and a similar crystal structure represented by the formula shown. A is a monovalent cation, B is a divalent cation, and X is a halogen anion.

[0025] The power generation layer 30 may further include an electron transport layer and / or a hole transport layer, as needed. In the example shown in Figures 2A and 2B, the power generation layer 30 further includes an electron transport layer (n-type semiconductor layer) 34 on the first substrate 1 side of the photoelectric conversion layer (i-type semiconductor layer) 32, and a hole transport layer (p-type semiconductor layer) 35 on the second substrate 2 side. The power generation layer 30 may also include layers other than those described above. For example, a molybdenum oxide layer may be placed between the p-type semiconductor layer and the upper electrode layer. The stacking order in the power generation layer 30 is not limited to the example shown, and the p-type semiconductor layer, i-type semiconductor layer, and n-type semiconductor layer may be arranged in this order from the first substrate 1 side.

[0026] The power generation unit 3 includes at least one solar cell 8. In the example shown in Figure 1, multiple solar cells 8 are arranged in the X direction on the main surface 1a. Two adjacent solar cells 8 are connected in series.

[0027] Extraction electrodes 4A and 4B are electrodes with lower resistivity (electrical resistivity) than, for example, the electrodes used in the power generation unit 3. In the illustrated example, extraction electrodes 4A and 4B are located at the +X side and -X side edges of the main surface 1a of the first substrate 1. Extraction electrode 4A is electrically connected to the solar cell 8 located on the leftmost side (-X side) of the power generation unit 3. Extraction electrode 4B is electrically connected to the solar cell 8 located on the rightmost side (+X side).

[0028] In the power generation unit 3, the current flows from one side of the extraction electrodes 4A and 4B to the other, generally along the X direction. Each of the extraction electrodes 4A and 4B may extend from the sealing space, through the sealing member 6, and to the outside of the sealing member 6.

[0029] Referring to Figure 2A, an example of the configuration of the solar cell 8 will be described. The lower electrode layer 31 is separated into a plurality of lower electrodes LE by separation grooves 81. The n-type semiconductor layer 34, photoelectric conversion layer 32, p-type semiconductor layer 35, and upper electrode layer 33 are separated into a plurality of parts by separation grooves 82. In this example, the photoelectric conversion layer 32 is separated into a plurality of photoelectric conversion parts PV by separation grooves 82, and the upper electrode layer 33 is separated into a plurality of upper electrodes UE. Separation grooves 81 and 82 are grooves that extend in a direction (for example, the Y direction) intersecting the direction of current flow (X direction).

[0030] Each of the solar cells 8 comprises a lower electrode LE and an upper electrode UE facing each other in the Z direction, and a photoelectric conversion unit PV located between these electrodes. In two adjacent solar cells 8, the upper electrode UE of one solar cell is electrically connected to the lower electrode LE of the other solar cell, for example, within a hole 83 that penetrates the n-type semiconductor layer 34, the photoelectric conversion layer 32, and the p-type semiconductor layer 35. In this way, a plurality of solar cells 8 constituting the power generation unit 3 are connected in series.

[0031] As shown in Figure 1, the power generation unit 3 has a pattern display area DR on which a pattern is displayed in a plan view (a plan view from the Z direction). In this example, the pattern display area DR is located only in a part of the power generation unit 3 in a plan view, but it may be located across the entire surface of the power generation unit 3. In the following description, the pattern prepared or created at the design stage and intended to be displayed may be referred to as the "target pattern," and the pattern displayed in the pattern display area DR in the photoelectric converter after manufacturing may be referred to as the "display pattern" to distinguish them.

[0032] (Pattern display area DR) The structure of the pattern display area in this embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 3 is a schematic enlarged top view showing a part of area A of the pattern display area DR shown in Figure 1. Figure 4A is a schematic end view along the IVA-IVA line shown in Figure 3. Figure 4B is a schematic end view along the IVB-IVB line shown in Figure 3. Figure 4C is a schematic end view along the IVC-IVC line shown in Figure 3. The second substrate 2 and the filler material 7 are not shown in Figures 4A to 4C.

[0033] As shown in Figures 3 to 4B, the pattern display area DR of the power generation unit 3 is provided with a plurality of drawing grooves 5 that penetrate the photoelectric conversion layer 32 in the thickness direction (Z direction). The drawing grooves 5 are grooves used for drawing patterns such as characters, pictures, and designs.

[0034] As shown in Figure 3, each drawing groove 5 has two ends (sometimes called the "first end" and the "second end") 51 and 52 in a plan view, and extends linearly along the X direction between the two ends 51 and 52. Multiple drawing grooves 5 are arranged at intervals in the Y direction.

[0035] In this embodiment, the multiple drawing grooves 5 include two or more grooves with different lengths in the X direction. For example, at least some of the drawing grooves 5 have both ends 51, 52 inside the photoelectric conversion layer 32 in a plan view, and are openings located inside the photoelectric conversion layer 32 in a plan view. The multiple drawing grooves 5 may also include grooves that have only one end inside the photoelectric conversion layer 32 in a plan view, or grooves that extend in the X direction so as to cross the photoelectric conversion layer 32. When the drawing groove completely crosses the photoelectric conversion layer in a plan view, the "end of the drawing groove" refers to an opening located on the outer surface of the photoelectric conversion layer on the +X side or -X side.

[0036] In this embodiment, the drawing groove 5 extends substantially parallel to the direction (X direction) in which the current flows in the power generation unit 3. The "direction in which the current flows" is, in a plan view, the direction in which the current flows, for example, between the extraction electrodes, and in this case, the direction in which it flows between the series-connected solar cells 8. Note that the direction in which the drawing groove 5 extends is not limited to the X direction.

[0037] In addition to the drawing grooves 5, the pattern display area DR may also have separation grooves 82 for separating two adjacent solar cells 8. In this case, the drawing grooves 5 may intersect with the separation grooves 82 between adjacent solar cells 8. For example, some of the drawing grooves 5 may extend across multiple solar cells 8.

[0038] The pattern display area DR contains multiple areas r1 and r2 with different area ratios of the drawing grooves 5. A virtual line L1 located at the boundary between the multiple areas r1 and r2 is perceived as the outline of the pattern, thereby representing the pattern. In this specification, the virtual line L1 perceived as the outline of the pattern is called the "boundary." To make the explanation easier to understand, in the drawings, a portion of the virtual boundary may be shown as a solid line.

[0039] The display pattern shown in Figure 3 includes a first region r1 and a second region r2 in which the area ratio of the drawing groove 5 is smaller than that of the first region r1. In Figure 3, the virtual boundary (hereinafter referred to as the "first boundary") L1 between the first region r1 and the second region r2 is shown by a solid line. The first boundary L1 may include straight sections, curved sections, or both. By freely extending the first boundary L1 in any direction, for example, in a direction intersecting the X or Y direction, a desired pattern can be displayed.

[0040] The drawing groove 5 includes a common groove 5a that extends from the first region r1 across the first boundary L1 to the second region r2, and a dedicated groove 5b that extends from the first region r1 to the first boundary L1 and has one end 51 at the first boundary L1. The common groove 5a and the dedicated groove 5b are located in the first region r1. The common groove 5a is located in the second region r2, but the dedicated groove 5b is not. Therefore, the area ratio of the drawing groove 5 is higher in the first region r1 due to the absence of the dedicated groove 5b. The first boundary L1 can be visually recognized as the outline of a design because the ends 51 of the dedicated groove 5b are arranged at a distance from each other.

[0041] The drawing groove 5 is formed, for example, to penetrate the upper electrode layer 33 and the photoelectric conversion layer 32, exposing the lower electrode layer 31. In the example shown in Figures 4B and 4C, the drawing groove 5 is defined by a bottom surface 53, inner surfaces 5s1 and 5s2 that face each other and extend in the X direction, an inner end surface 5t1 located between the inner surfaces 5s1 and 5s2 at one end 51, and an inner end surface 5t2 located between the inner surfaces 5s1 and 5s2 at the other end 52. The bottom surface 53 exposes the lower electrode layer 31 and the main surface 1a of the first substrate 1 located below the separation groove 81. The photoelectric conversion layer 32 is exposed on the inner surfaces 5s1 and 5s2 and the inner end surfaces 5t1 and 5t2.

[0042] The drawing groove 5 may be a groove that penetrates the photoelectric conversion layer 32 in the power generation layer 30. On the bottom surface 53, the surface portion of the lower electrode layer 31 may also be removed, or the lower electrode layer 31 may be removed over the thickness direction, and the first substrate 1 may be exposed on the bottom surface 53. Alternatively, when the layer (for example, the n-type semiconductor layer 34) between the lower electrode layer 31 and the photoelectric conversion layer 32 has translucency, that layer may be exposed on the bottom surface 53 of the drawing groove 5.

[0043] As shown in FIG. 4C, in plan view, the region 37 overlapping each drawing groove 5 does not have the photoelectric conversion layer 32, so it is a non-power generation region that does not contribute to power generation. In the present embodiment, since this region 37 is composed only of translucent members (the first substrate 1, the second substrate 2, the lower electrode layer 31), it is a translucent region that transmits visible light in the Z direction. On the other hand, the region 38 located between the drawing grooves 5 in plan view is a power generation region that contributes to power generation. Since this region 38 includes the non-translucent photoelectric conversion layer 32, it is a non-translucent region that is less likely to transmit visible light than the region 37 overlapping the drawing groove 5.

[0044] Therefore, in plan view, the transmittance of visible light in the region can be changed by the ratio (area ratio) of the area of the drawing groove 5 in each region r1, r2 of the power generation unit 3. The "area of the drawing groove 5" is the opening area of the photoelectric conversion layer 32 formed by the drawing groove 5, and when the side surface of the drawing groove 5 is tapered, it corresponds to the area of the bottom surface 53 of the drawing groove 5. In this specification, the area ratio of the drawing groove 5 may be simply referred to as the "opening ratio".

[0045] In the present embodiment, the widths w1 of the plurality of drawing grooves 5 are designed to be equal, and the opening ratio is changed by varying the arrangement pitch of the drawing grooves 5 in each region r1, r2. Specifically, in the first region r1, the arrangement pitch of the drawing grooves 5 is smaller than that in the second region r2, and the drawing grooves 5 are arranged more densely. Therefore, the opening ratio of the first region r1 is larger than that of the second region r2.

[0046] When viewing the symbol display area DR along the Z direction, since the aperture ratio of the first area r1 is larger than that of the second area r1 and it is easier to transmit visible light, it is brighter than the second area r2. Also, the first area r1 and the second area r2 in which the drawing groove 5 is formed are brighter than the area where the drawing groove 5 is not formed (the area with an aperture ratio of substantially 0%). Thus, since the gradation (brightness) of each area r1, r2 can be made different due to the difference in the aperture ratio, gradation expression becomes possible.

[0047] Since the separation grooves 82 between the solar cells 8 are arranged substantially uniformly over the entire surface of the power generation unit 3 including the symbol display area DR, it is difficult to affect the symbol (change in gradation).

[0048] In this embodiment, the width w1 (FIG. 4C) of the drawing groove 5 in the Y direction is, for example, larger than the width ws (FIG. 4A) of the separation groove 82 in the X direction. The width w1 of the drawing groove 5 may be, for example, twice or more the width ws of the separation groove 82. As an example, the width w1 of the drawing groove 5 is 200 μm and the width of the separation groove 82 is 80 μm. By making the width w1 of the drawing groove 5 larger than the width of the separation groove 82, the influence of the separation groove 82 on the symbol (change in gradation) can be suppressed, making it easier to visually recognize the symbol.

[0049] <Specific Example of Symbol>FIG. 5 is a top view illustrating a part of the display symbol in the symbol display area DR, and also shows enlarged views of each area of the display symbol.

[0050] As shown in FIG. 5, in the symbol display area DR, a display symbol 200 is formed by a plurality of drawing grooves 5 including a common groove 5a and a dedicated groove 5b. As an example, the display symbol 200 is an assumed schematic diagram obtained by enlarging the cuff portion of an arbitrary character.

[0051] In a plan view, the symbol display area DR has a first area r1 in which the drawing grooves 5 are arranged at an array pitch p1, a second area r2 in which the drawing grooves 5 are arranged at an array pitch p2 larger than the array pitch p1, and a third area r3 in which the drawing grooves 5 are not formed. In this example, the hand of the character is in the first area r1, the clothes are in the second area r2, the heart-shaped cookie held by the character in the hand is in the third area r3, and the background of the character is also in the third area r3.

[0052] As shown in Figure 5, in the first region r1, drawing grooves 5 with a width w1 are arranged in the Y direction with a distance v1 between them. The drawing grooves 5 include a plurality of common grooves 5a and two dedicated grooves 5b placed between two adjacent common grooves 5a. If the width w1 is 1, the distance v1 between grooves is 4, and the arrangement pitch p1 of the drawing grooves 5 in the Y direction is 5. The opening ratio of the first region r1 is 20%.

[0053] In the second region r2, drawing grooves 5 with width w1 are arranged in the Y direction with a distance v2 between them. All of the drawing grooves 5 are common grooves 5a, and are located in the same position in the Y direction as the common grooves 5a in the first region r1. Therefore, at the first boundary L1 between the first region r1 and the second region r2, the common grooves 5a of the first region r1 and the second region r2 are connected to each other to form a single groove. If the width w1 is 1, the distance v2 is 14, and the arrangement pitch p2 of the drawing grooves 5 in the Y direction is 15. The opening ratio of the second region r2 is 6.7%.

[0054] Since no drawing groove 5 is formed in the third region r3, the opening ratio is 0%.

[0055] Therefore, by changing the aperture ratio, the brightness (transmittance of visible light) levels of the first region r1, the second region r2, and the third region r3 can be made different. In this example, the pattern can be represented in three shades: the first region r1 having a first brightness (white), the second region r2 having a second brightness (intermediate color) that is darker than the first brightness, and the third region r3 having a third brightness (black) that is darker than the second brightness.

[0056] Table 1 shows the aperture ratio, array pitch, and gradation of each region. In this specification, if the number of gradations is N, the brightness of each region is represented by gradation g (where g is an integer from 0 to (N-1)). For example, the value of g for the darkest region (e.g., a region where no drawing grooves are formed) is set to 0 (zero), the value of g for the brightest region is set to N-1, and the value of g increases as the brightness level increases. The value of g indicates the relative brightness with respect to other regions.

[0057]

[0058] Thus, the pattern (display pattern) 200 shown in Figure 5 can be formed by combining multiple regions r1 to r3 with different gradations.

[0059] In a plan view, the first region r1 (e.g., a hand) and the second region r2 (e.g., clothing) are arranged adjacent to each other. The first boundary L1 between the first region r1 and the second region r2 is a virtual line corresponding to the contour of the clothing and the hand. The first boundary L1 includes a portion that extends in a direction intersecting the X direction. This makes it possible to create different gradations along the X direction.

[0060] The third region r3 may be located adjacent to the first region r1 or the second region r2 in a plan view. For example, the third region r3 may be surrounded by the first region r1 or the second region r2 in a plan view.

[0061] In Figure 5, for example, the third region r3 (e.g., a cookie) is an island-like region surrounded by the first region r1 (e.g., a hand) (i.e., located inside the first region r1). The second boundary L2 between the first region r1 and the third region r3 is a virtual line corresponding to the outline of the cookie. Of the drawing grooves 5, the groove that extends from the first region r1 to the second boundary L2 (e.g., groove 5c) has one end 52c at the second boundary L2. The second boundary L2 can be seen as an outline line because the ends of the drawing grooves 5 are arranged at a distance from each other.

[0062] The multiple drawing grooves 5 arranged in the first region r1 include a pair of drawing grooves 5c and 5d, respectively, located on both sides of the third region r3 in the X direction. The positions of the drawing grooves 5c and 5d in the Y direction are approximately equal. The drawing grooves 5c and 5d have ends 52c and 52d, respectively, at positions in the second boundary L2 that are opposite each other in the X direction. With this configuration, one groove appears to extend in the X direction, jumping over the third region r3, making it easier to visually recognize the second boundary L2 of the third region r3 as the outline of the pattern.

[0063] In Figure 5, in the first region r1, the drawing grooves 5 (including the common groove 5a and the dedicated groove 5b) are arranged at regular intervals, but they do not have to be arranged at regular intervals. For example, in the first region r1 and the second region r2, the drawing grooves 5 only need to be arranged periodically along the Y direction. "Periodic arrangement" includes not only cases where the drawing grooves 5 are arranged at equal intervals in the Y direction, but also cases where the same arrangement pattern is repeated. In the first region r1, if the same arrangement pattern is repeated, the arrangement pitch p1 refers to the average arrangement pitch of the drawing grooves 5 in that arrangement pattern. The same applies to the second region r2, where the arrangement pitch p2 refers to the average arrangement pitch.

[0064] Each drawing groove 5 may be formed by scanning the laser once (aperture width: w1). Alternatively, one drawing groove 5 may be formed by n scans (n ​​is an integer of 2 or more) (aperture width: for example, w1 / n). In this case, the groove formed by one scan is called a "sub-groove". The n sub-grooves are connected to each other in the Y direction to constitute one drawing groove 5. When the drawing groove 5 is in contact with the first boundary L1 or the second boundary L2, the position of the end of each sub-groove in the X direction may be set so that the shape of the boundary becomes closer to the contour of the target pattern.

[0065] In this embodiment, if the contour of the target pattern is, for example, a circle, the contour is represented not by forming a groove that extends in a ring shape along the contour, but by making the opening ratio of the drawing groove 5 different inside the circle and around the circle. For this reason, upon closer examination, the contour of the target pattern and the boundary L1 of the areas r1 and r2 that are actually perceived as contours may not perfectly coincide. However, as will be explained below, by utilizing the position of the ends of the sub-grooves, it is possible to form a boundary that is closer to the contour of the target figure.

[0066] Figure 6 is a top view that further enlarges a portion of the area shown in Figure 5. Figure 6 shows the area including the second boundary L2 between the third area r3, which is the cookie, and the first area r1, which is the hand. The second boundary L2 corresponds to the outline of the cookie. In the target design, the outline of the cookie is curved (for example, heart-shaped).

[0067] As shown in Figure 6, the two drawing grooves 5e and 5f adjacent to the second boundary L2 are each composed of five sub-grooves 50 formed by five laser scans.

[0068] The drawing groove 5e has an end portion 52 located at the second boundary L2. The drawing groove 5e is composed of five openings 501 to 505 (shown as solid lines for clarity) extending in the X direction. In this example, each of the openings 501 to 505 is a single sub-groove 50. At the end portion 52, the positions of the opening ends of the openings 501 to 505 in the X direction are different. Here, the opening end of an opening located higher up (+Y side) is located further towards the +X side. As a result, the shape of the end portion 52 of the drawing groove 5e in plan view becomes stepped, making it easier to perceive as a curved contour. Therefore, a pseudo-curved contour can be represented.

[0069] In Figure 6, the opening ends of the five sub-grooves 50 of the drawing groove 5e are all at different positions in the X direction. However, the opening ends of two or more adjacent sub-grooves 50 may be at the same position in the X direction. In this case, these sub-grooves 50 may be indistinguishable from each other and may form a single opening.

[0070] The drawing groove 5f has a side surface located at the second boundary L2. In the portion of the drawing groove 5f located at the second boundary L2, there are fewer sub-grooves 50 (two in this case) and it is narrower than in other portions. In this example, the drawing groove 5f has openings 511 to 514. Each of these openings 511 to 513 is a single sub-groove 50. Each of the openings 511 to 513 has an opening end at the second boundary L2. The opening 514 does not have an opening end at the second boundary L2 and extends without crossing the second boundary L2. The opening 514 is, for example, an opening formed by connecting two sub-grooves 50. Therefore, the drawing groove 5f has a portion including openings 511 to 514 (width: w1) and a portion including only opening 514 (width: 0.4 × w1). Thus, in a plan view, the shape of the side surface of the drawing groove 5f can be made stepped or have a notched section. Therefore, a second boundary that is closer to (more faithful to) the outline of the target pattern can be formed.

[0071] Figure 7 is a top view illustrating the display pattern in the pattern display area DR. The display pattern 200 in Figure 7 is the same as in Figure 5. However, the imaginary lines corresponding to the boundaries L1 and L2 have not been added, and it is shown in a state that is close to how it would be visible to the naked eye.

[0072] (Effects) In the photoelectric conversion device 100 of this embodiment, the power generation unit 3 is provided with a plurality of drawing grooves 5 that penetrate the photoelectric conversion layer 32 in the thickness direction (Z direction). Each of the drawing grooves 5 has an end in a plan view and is a straight line extending from the end in a first direction (X direction). In a plan view, the power generation unit 3 includes a first region r1 and a second region r2 that are adjacent to each other, and the first boundary L1 between the first region r1 and the second region r2 includes a portion that intersects with the X direction. In a plan view, two or more drawing grooves 5 extend in the second direction (Y direction) at intervals in the first region r1 and the second region r2. In a plan view, the area ratio of the drawing grooves 5 in the first region r1 is greater than the area ratio of the drawing grooves 5 in the second region r2.

[0073] With the above configuration, a pattern is displayed on the surface of the power generation unit 3 by utilizing the difference in area ratio (aperture ratio) of the drawing grooves 5 in the photoelectric conversion layer 32. More complex patterns can be represented by combining linear drawing grooves 5 that extend in the X direction. Furthermore, for example, the transmittance of visible light can be made different in the first region r1 and the second region r2, so a pattern can be represented by the difference in brightness (gradation). Therefore, a photoelectric conversion device 100 with excellent design can be provided.

[0074] Since the first boundary L1 includes a portion that intersects with the X direction, it becomes possible to change the aperture ratio along the X direction. The first boundary L1 may further include a portion that intersects with the Y direction, so it becomes possible to change the aperture ratio along the Y direction. Thus, according to this embodiment, by using a linear drawing groove 5 that extends in one direction (in this case, the X direction), it is possible to change the density of the drawing groove 5 not only in the Y direction but also in the X direction, thereby changing the gradation. Therefore, it becomes possible to display a pattern with arbitrarily changed gradation in two dimensions.

[0075] Furthermore, with the above configuration, a pattern can be displayed by forming the drawing grooves 5, which extend in the same direction, at pre-designed positions. Also, the wiring structure does not need to be complex to display the pattern. Therefore, the design can be enhanced without complicating the design or manufacturing process.

[0076] Furthermore, since drawing grooves 5 (e.g., openings) of a predetermined line width are formed in the photoelectric conversion layer 32, the display pattern 200 can be formed on the photoelectric conversion layer 32 without significantly reducing the area of ​​the power generation region that contributes to power generation within the photoelectric conversion layer 32. Therefore, a significant decrease in power generation performance due to the formation of the display pattern 200 can be suppressed.

[0077] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, by freely arranging the first region r1 and the second region r2 in the pattern display area DR of the power generation unit 3, it is possible to express everything from simple patterns such as stars and letters to complex patterns with curves and even paintings. Therefore, a higher level of design quality can be achieved than in Patent Document 1.

[0078] In the photoelectric converter 100 of this embodiment, the multiple drawing grooves 5 include a groove (common groove) 5a that extends from the first region r1 across the first boundary L1 to the second region r2. With this configuration, the design and processing of the drawing grooves 5 can be made easier. In addition, the positions of some of the grooves (common groove) 5a in the Y direction can be aligned between the first region r1 and the second region r2. This makes it easier to visually perceive the difference in aperture ratio between these regions r1 and r2 as the outline of the figure.

[0079] In the photoelectric converter 100 of this embodiment, the arrangement pitch p1 of the drawing grooves 5 in the first region r1 is smaller than the arrangement pitch p2 of the drawing grooves 5 in the second region r2. With this configuration, the gradation of the two regions r1 and r2 can be easily made different.

[0080] According to this embodiment, the plurality of drawing grooves 5 include, in a plan view, a plurality of common grooves 5a extending from a first region r1 across a first boundary L1 to a second region r2, and at least one dedicated groove 5b positioned between two adjacent common grooves 5a. The dedicated groove 5b extends from the first region r1 to the first boundary L1 and has an end 51 at the first boundary L1. With this configuration, the common grooves 5a make the design and processing of the drawing grooves 5 easier, while the end 51 of the dedicated groove 5b represents (makes visible) the first boundary L1.

[0081] According to this embodiment, the power generation unit 3 further includes a third region r3 having a smaller aperture ratio than the second region r1. The third region r3 is, for example, a region in which no drawing groove 5 is formed. In a plan view, the third region r3 may be adjacent to or surrounded by the first region r1 or the second region r2. The second boundary L2 between the first region r1 or the second region r2 and the third region r3 may include a portion that intersects in the X direction. With such a configuration, it becomes possible to display patterns with at least three shades.

[0082] According to this embodiment, the boundaries L1 and L2, which are visible as the outline of the pattern, are represented by the ends 51 and 52 of the drawing grooves 5, which are arranged at a distance from each other. In other words, the outline is composed of multiple points, not lines. With this configuration, it is possible to display a desired pattern while suppressing the aperture ratio and ensuring power generation performance. For example, even if the outline of the target pattern extends in the Y direction, it is not necessary to form drawing grooves that extend in the Y direction, thus reducing the impact on power generation performance.

[0083] According to this embodiment, as shown in Figure 6, the multiple drawing grooves 5 include grooves 5e and 5f composed of multiple openings connected in the Y direction. The width of each of the multiple openings in the Y direction is smaller than the width w1 of the drawing groove 5 in the first region r1 and the second region r2. The multiple openings include a first opening and a second opening, which have different lengths in the X direction. With this configuration, depending on the position of the end (opening end) of each opening, a step can be formed at the end 51, 52 or side of the drawing groove 5 to match the contour of the design, making it possible to more closely approximate the designed contour. For example, it becomes easier to represent curved contours.

[0084] In the photoelectric converter 100 of this embodiment, as shown in Figure 4C, when viewing the power generation unit 3 along the Z direction, the region 37 overlapping with each drawing groove 5 is a non-power generation region that does not contribute to power generation, and the region 38 located between two adjacent drawing grooves 5 is a power generation region that contributes to power generation. With this configuration, it is possible to enhance the design while ensuring the amount of power generated. As an example, the aperture ratio of the first region r1 in the power generation unit 3 may be set to, for example, 20% or less. By setting an upper limit on the aperture ratio, the decrease in power generation performance due to the drawing of patterns can be kept within a predetermined range.

[0085] In this embodiment, the direction in which the drawing groove 5 extends and the direction in which the current flows in the power generation unit 3 (for example, the direction in which the current flows from one of the extraction electrodes 4A and 4B to the other) are substantially parallel. With this configuration, it is possible to suppress the obstruction of the current flow by the drawing groove 5.

[0086] In the photoelectric conversion device 100 of this embodiment, the power generation unit 3 has multiple solar cells 8 arranged in the X direction at intervals from each other in a plan view and electrically connected in series. At least one of the drawing grooves 5 intersects with a separation groove 82 formed in the photoelectric conversion layer 32 to separate adjacent solar cells 8 in a plan view. With this configuration, the drawing grooves 5 can be placed at any position without being restricted by the arrangement or configuration of the solar cells 8.

[0087] According to this embodiment, the width w1 of the drawing groove 5 is greater than the width of the separation groove 82, for example, twice as much or more. This configuration makes it easier to see the pattern using the drawing groove 5, and reduces the influence of the separation groove 82 on the design.

[0088] The photoelectric conversion device 100 of this embodiment further comprises a translucent first substrate 1 supporting the power generation unit 3. The power generation unit 3 includes a photoelectric conversion layer 32, a translucent lower electrode layer 31 located on the first substrate 1 side of the photoelectric conversion layer 32, and an upper electrode layer 33 located on the opposite side of the photoelectric conversion layer 32 from the first substrate 1. The plurality of drawing grooves 5 penetrate at least the upper electrode layer 33 and the photoelectric conversion layer 32 in the Z direction. The photoelectric conversion layer 32 is a non-translucent layer with a lower visible light transmittance than the lower electrode layer 31.

[0089] The photoelectric conversion device 100 further comprises a translucent second substrate 2 facing the first substrate 1 and the power generation unit 3 in the Z direction, and a translucent filler material 7 located between the power generation unit 3 and the second substrate 2. A portion of the filler material 7 may be located inside the drawing groove 5. The power generation unit 3 is sealed between the first substrate 1 and the second substrate 2 together with the filler material 7. With this configuration, in a photoelectric conversion module in which the power generation unit 3 is sealed, a pattern can be displayed within the sealed space. Furthermore, with the above configuration, by sealing the power generation unit 3 between the first substrate 1 and the second substrate 2 with the sealing member 6, moisture and oxygen are less likely to penetrate from the outside to the power generation unit 3, thereby suppressing deterioration of the photoelectric conversion layer (especially the perovskite layer) 32. In addition, the photoelectric conversion layer exposed on the inner surfaces 5s1 and 5s2 of the drawing groove 5 can be protected by the filler material 7. Furthermore, with the above configuration, since the filler material 7 is light-transmitting, the photoelectric converter 100 can function as a double-sided light-receiving module.

[0090] According to this embodiment, since both the filler 7 and the substrates 1 and 2 are translucent materials, the display pattern 200 formed on the power generation unit 3 is visible from both the first substrate 1 side and the second substrate 2 side. This further enhances the design appeal.

[0091] The configuration of the photoelectric conversion device in this embodiment is not limited to the above configuration. For example, the power generation unit 3 may consist of a single solar cell, and separation grooves may not be formed in the photoelectric conversion layer. Also, for example, in a photoelectric conversion device used in a window, through grooves for light collection may be provided in the photoelectric conversion layer, separate from the design.

[0092] The materials and shapes of each component are not particularly limited. The photoelectric conversion layer 32 may be any opaque photoelectric conversion layer and may contain photoelectric conversion materials other than perovskite compounds. In the photoelectric conversion device 100, the first substrate 1 and the second substrate 2 are translucent, but the second substrate 2 may be opaque. In this case, the pattern is visible only from the light-receiving surface 1b side.

[0093] (Method of manufacturing the photoelectric converter) An example of a method of manufacturing the photoelectric converter 100 will be described below with reference to Figures 8A to 8I. Figures 8A to 8I are schematic process end views showing the method of manufacturing the photoelectric converter 100, and each shows a part of the cross-section along the X direction.

[0094] First, as shown in Figure 8A, a first substrate 1 is prepared on which a transparent conductive film 310 is formed on the main surface 1a. The transparent conductive film 310 is, for example, an FTO film. A glass substrate may be used as the first substrate 1, and the transparent conductive film 310 may be formed on the main surface of the glass substrate by known methods such as sputtering or coating. Alternatively, a substrate whose main surface 1a is covered with a transparent conductive film 310 (for example, an FTO substrate covered with an FTO film) may be used.

[0095] Next, as shown in Figure 8B, the transparent conductive film 310 is patterned by a known method. Here, a plurality of separation grooves 81 are formed in the transparent conductive film 310 along the Y direction by laser processing (aperture width: for example, 40 μm). This forms a lower electrode layer 31 including a plurality of lower electrodes LE.

[0096] Next, as shown in Figure 8C, a laminated film 320 including a photoelectric conversion film 321 is formed on the main surface 1a of the first substrate 1 so as to cover the lower electrode layer 31. Each film in the laminated film 320 can be formed by methods such as spin coating or inkjet.

[0097] In this embodiment, first, an n-type semiconductor film 341 (for example, SnO) is placed on the main surface 1a. ２The n-type semiconductor film 341 is coated using an inkjet method and dried. Then, an i-type semiconductor film (e.g., a perovskite film) is coated onto the n-type semiconductor film 341 as a photoelectric conversion film 321 using an inkjet method and dried. Subsequently, a p-type semiconductor film 351 (e.g., a PTAA film) is coated onto the photoelectric conversion film 321 using an inkjet method and dried. By repeating this coating and drying process, a laminated film 320 can be formed.

[0098] Next, as shown in Figure 8D, a plurality of holes 83 are formed in the laminated film 320, each exposing one of the lower electrodes LE. Here, each hole 83 is formed by laser processing (aperture width: for example, 80 μm).

[0099] Next, as shown in Figure 8E, a transparent conductive film 330 is formed so as to cover the laminated film 320. The transparent conductive film 330 is, for example, an ITO film. After this, as shown in Figure 8F, the portion of the laminate, which includes the lower electrode layer 31, the laminated film 320, and the transparent conductive film 330, that is located in the peripheral region of the first substrate 1 is removed, for example, by laser processing.

[0100] Next, as shown in Figure 8G, the laminated film 320 and the transparent conductive film 330 are patterned using a known method to form separation grooves 82 that expose the lower electrode layer 31. Here, a plurality of separation grooves 82 are formed in the transparent conductive film 330 and the laminated film 320 along the Y direction by laser processing (aperture width: for example, 80 μm). As a result, an upper electrode layer 33 including a plurality of upper electrodes UE is formed from the transparent conductive film 330. Also, a photoelectric conversion layer 32 including a plurality of photoelectric conversion units PV is formed from the photoelectric conversion film 321. Each photoelectric conversion unit PV is arranged, for example, to straddle two adjacent lower electrodes LE in the X direction. Similarly, the n-type semiconductor film 341 and the p-type semiconductor film 351 are also formed to form an n-type semiconductor layer 34 and a p-type semiconductor layer 35, respectively, which include a plurality of separated portions.

[0101] In this way, a power generation unit 3 is obtained that includes a plurality of solar cells 8 arranged in the X direction. Each solar cell 8 has a laminated structure comprising a lower electrode LE, an upper electrode UE, and a photoelectric conversion unit PV located between these electrodes LE and UE in the Z direction. Each upper electrode UE is electrically connected within a hole 83 to the lower electrode LE of the solar cell 8 adjacent to the right side (+X side).

[0102] Next, as shown in Figure 8H, the portion of the power generation layer 30 located in the region where the extraction electrodes are formed is removed, exposing a portion 31a and 31b of the lower electrode layer 31. In this example, the portions of the power generation layer 30 located at the +X and -X side edges of the main surface 1a of the first substrate 1 are removed.

[0103] Furthermore, for example, a plurality of drawing grooves 5 that penetrate at least the upper electrode layer 33 and the photoelectric conversion layer 32 are formed by laser processing. In this embodiment, a drawing groove 5 (width: w1) composed of n sub-grooves (width: w1 / n) is formed by performing n scans along the X direction. As an example, a drawing groove 5 with a width w1 of 200 μm may be formed by forming a plurality (in this case, five) of sub-grooves by laser processing (aperture width: 40 μm).

[0104] As will be described later, in this embodiment, drawing grooves 5 are formed using a laser processing device with processing data created based on design rules and target patterns. Each drawing groove 5 is formed at a predetermined position and extends in the X direction for a predetermined length. The processing data will be described in detail later.

[0105] It is preferable that the inner surfaces 5s1, 5s2 (see Figure 3) and inner end surfaces 5t1, 5t2 of the drawing groove 5 are substantially perpendicular to the main surface 1a. If the inner surfaces 5s1, 5s2 and inner end surfaces 5t1, 5t2 are tapered surfaces inclined with respect to the main surface 1a, the bottom surface 53 of the drawing groove 5 may be formed to have a predetermined width w1 and length.

[0106] After forming the drawing groove 5, an inspection process may be performed. In the inspection process, for example, an inspection device is used to compare the display pattern formed on the power generation unit 3 with the target pattern using image recognition, and to check whether there is any misalignment with the target pattern. Even if there is a misalignment, if it is possible to bring it closer to the target pattern by further laser processing, additional laser processing (repair process) can be performed. For example, if the length or depth of the drawing groove is insufficient, the shape (length, depth) can be made to conform to the target pattern by scanning the laser at that position. On the other hand, repair cannot be performed on drawing grooves that are longer than the target pattern.

[0107] Next, as shown in Figure 8I, extraction electrodes 4A and 4B are formed on the exposed portions 31a and 31b of the lower electrode layer 31, respectively. Each of the extraction electrodes 4A and 4B is formed to be electrically connected to one of the electrodes of the solar cell, the one on the +X side and the one on the -X side. The extraction electrodes 4A and 4B may be electrodes containing low-resistance metals such as Cu, Al, or Ag. For example, the extraction electrodes 4A and 4B may be formed by joining copper wire coated with solder (tab wire) onto the lower electrode layer 31 by soldering.

[0108] After forming the extraction electrodes 4A and 4B, a filler material 7 is placed above the power generation unit 3, and the second substrate 2 is placed so as to face the first substrate 1 with the power generation unit 3 and the filler material 7 in between. As the filler material 7, for example, a filler sheet containing polyolefin (PO) is used. Instead of polyolefin, resins such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) or polyvinyl butyral (PVB) may be used as the filler material. Lamination may be performed after this.

[0109] Next, a sealing member (e.g., butyl rubber) 6 is formed between the first substrate 1 and the second substrate 2 to seal the power generation unit 3. Here, the sealing member 6 is positioned to surround the power generation unit 3 and the filler material 7 when viewed from the Z direction. As the material for the sealing member 6, for example, rubber such as butyl rubber, thermoplastic resin such as ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH), or a combination thereof can be used. The extraction electrodes 4A and 4B may extend through the sealing member 6 to the outside of the photoelectric converter 100. In this way, the photoelectric converter 100 is manufactured.

[0110] The method for manufacturing the photoelectric converter is not limited to the method described above. In the above description, the sealing member 6 was placed and sealed after lamination, but lamination may also be performed after sealing (sealing) by placing the sealing member 6.

[0111] (Method for creating processing data for the photoelectric conversion layer) In this embodiment, the processing data for forming drawing grooves in the photoelectric conversion layer is created based on, for example, groove information including line spacing information associated with the arrangement of drawing grooves, and pattern data including information corresponding to the target pattern. Below, we will first explain how to create the groove information.

[0112] [Creation of Groove Information] Figure 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a method for creating groove information. In this example, the method for creating groove information includes determining design rules (S1), determining basic units (S2), and determining design line patterns (S3), as shown in Figure 9. Determining design line patterns (S3) includes, for example, determining a first design line pattern (S4) and determining a second design line pattern (S5). "Design line pattern" refers to a pattern of design lines associated with the arrangement of drawing grooves. The first design line pattern is a pattern for displaying a first grayscale, and the second design line pattern is, for example, a pattern for displaying a second grayscale that is darker than the first grayscale.

[0113] Although not shown in the diagram, if a different grayscale from both the first and second grayscales is required, for example, a grayscale between the first and second grayscales, the determination of the third design line pattern can be included in the determination of the design line pattern (S3).

[0114] <S1: Determination of Design Rules> First, the design rules for the design line pattern are determined. The design rules may be determined individually for each pattern, taking into consideration, for example, the complexity of the target pattern and the size of the pattern display area DR. Alternatively, a unified rule may be applied regardless of the pattern. As design rules, for example, the maximum aperture ratio M and the number of grayscale levels N are determined.

[0115] - Determination of the maximum aperture ratio M The maximum aperture ratio M is the maximum area ratio of the writing grooves in the photoelectric conversion layer. In this embodiment, since the photoelectric conversion layer is scribed away, the maximum aperture ratio corresponds to the maximum amount that can be scribed away for the writing grooves (maximum scribe amount). The maximum aperture ratio M is the upper limit of the aperture ratio in the brightest region (for example, the first region r1 shown in Figure 5).

[0116] When the aperture ratio due to the drawing grooves increases, the area contributing to the power generation region decreases, resulting in a decrease in power generation performance. On the other hand, to enhance the design of the pattern, it is preferable to increase the maximum aperture ratio due to the drawing grooves. This is because it is possible to increase the difference in aperture ratio between regions, making it easier to express complex patterns more clearly. Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to achieve both power generation performance and design aesthetics, the maximum aperture ratio M is predetermined as a design rule.

[0117] As an example, the required area of ​​the power generation region is determined from the power generation amount of the photoelectric converter (the minimum required amount), and the proportion of the area of ​​the photoelectric converter layer that can be removed as a drawing groove (an area that may be left as a non-power generation region) is calculated so as to secure this power generation area. This proportion may be called the maximum aperture ratio M. The maximum aperture ratio M is not particularly limited, but may be set to, for example, 30% or less, preferably 20% or less. Here, we will explain using the case where the maximum aperture ratio is 20% (referred to as the "20% rule") as an example.

[0118] Next, the number of gradations (brightness) N to be used to represent the pattern is determined. This determines the number of design line patterns required. As mentioned above, the number of gradations is determined by the area ratio (aperture ratio) of the drawing groove.

[0119] The number of gradations N is not particularly limited, but may be 2 to 4 gradations (N = 2 to 4). If the number of gradations N is small, it is difficult to represent complex patterns. On the other hand, in this embodiment, if the number of gradations N is too large (for example, 5 gradations or more), it may be difficult to visually distinguish the differences in gradations. Here, we will explain using the case of 3 gradations (N = 3) which includes an area that does not include the drawing groove (gradation 0) and two areas with different brightness levels (gradation 1 and 2). In this case, two types of design line patterns are required to be applied to the areas that become gradation 1 and 2.

[0120] The process of determining the basic unit (S2) and the process of determining the two types of design line patterns (S3) will be explained below with reference to Figures 10A to 10C.

[0121] <S2: Determination of the basic unit> First, as shown in Figure 10A, the basic unit U is determined based on the maximum aperture ratio M.

[0122] The basic unit U consists of a design line 9 corresponding to a drawing groove (non-power generation area) and a space 10 corresponding to an area located between the drawing grooves (power generation area). In this example, following the 20% rule, the Y-direction width (line width) dw of the design line 9 and the Y-direction width (space width) dv1 of the space 10 are set such that the ratio of the area of ​​the non-power generation area shown by the design line 9 to the area of ​​the basic unit U is 20% or less, that is, the ratio of the power generation area shown by the space 10 is 80% or more. As an example, the ratio of the line width dw to the space width dv1 is set to dw:dv1 = 1:4 so that the area ratio of the design line 9 is 20%.

[0123] Here, we will explain an example of how to define the size of the basic unit U. In this embodiment, for example, the size of the basic unit U is set to a rectangle with a length du in the X direction of 10 mm and a length in the Y direction of 2 mm, and the design lines are designed accordingly.

[0124] First, set the width (length in the X direction) du of the basic unit U to the same size as, for example, the width (width in the X direction) of the solar cell (e.g., 10 mm).

[0125] Next, the width dw of the design line is set. The width dw of the design line is set such that, for example, if the drawing groove after processing has that width, visible light passes through the power generation section in the thickness direction via the drawing groove, allowing the drawn display pattern to be recognized. In this example, the width dw of one design line is set to 0.2 mm. Subsequently, the length in the Y direction of the basic unit U is set based on the width dw. For example, assuming a design with four grayscale levels (including a black pattern), three design lines (one common design line and two dedicated design lines) are required. Therefore, the width (Y direction) of the design line must be a maximum of three lines, i.e., 0.6 mm (= 0.2 mm × 3 lines). If the maximum area ratio of the design line is set to 30%, then even when using three design lines, in order to secure a 70% power generation area, the length in the Y direction of the basic unit U must be 2 mm (= 0.6 mm × (10 / 3)).

[0126] The size and definition method of the basic unit U described above are merely examples. The size of the basic unit U is not limited to that described above and should be set appropriately according to the overall size of the photoelectric conversion device and the performance of the photoelectric conversion materials used.

[0127] <S3: Determination of design line pattern> Next, as shown in Figure 10B, the first design line pattern PT1 is determined using the basic unit U to be applied to the area that is, for example, the brightest first tone (tone 2 in this example) (S4).

[0128] In this example, the first design line pattern PT1 is a pattern in which the basic unit U is arranged in the Y direction (hereinafter referred to as the "basic pattern"). In the first design line pattern PT1, design lines 9 with line width dw are arranged in the Y direction with a distance (space width) dv1 between them, so dw:dv1 = 1:4, and the area ratio R1 of the design lines 9 is 20%.

[0129] Next, some of the design lines 9a in the first design line pattern PT1 are designated as "common design lines," and the remaining design lines 9b are designated as "dedicated design lines." As an example, in the first design line pattern PT1, multiple (in this case, two) basic units U1 and U2 arranged in the Y direction may be considered as one set, and one or more (in this case, one) design lines from each set may be designated as dedicated design lines 9b, with the rest being common design lines 9a. The common design lines 9a and dedicated design lines 9b correspond to the common grooves 5a and dedicated grooves 5b shown in Figure 5, respectively.

[0130] The first design line pattern PT1 is a pattern in which design lines with line width dw are arranged in the Y direction, and does not have to be a basic pattern. For example, the first design line pattern PT1 may be a pattern formed by moving some of the design lines from a basic pattern in the Y direction.

[0131] Next, as shown in Figure 10C, a second design line pattern PT2 is determined to be applied to a region that is darker than the first design line pattern PT1, resulting in a second grayscale (grayscale 1 in this example) (S5).

[0132] In this example, the second design line pattern PT2 is determined by removing the dedicated design line 9b from the first design line pattern PT1, in which the common design lines 9a are arranged in the Y direction. In the second design line pattern PT2, the design lines 9 (all of which are common design lines 9a in this case) with line width dw are arranged in the Y direction with a distance dv2 (>dv1) between them. dw:dv2 = 1:9, and the area ratio R2 of the design lines 9 is 10%.

[0133] Table 2 shows the area ratio, arrangement pitch, and gradation of each design line pattern. The gradation shown in Table 2 represents the brightness level when drawing grooves are formed according to each design line pattern. The area ratio and arrangement pitch of design line 9 correspond to the area ratio (opening ratio) and arrangement pitch of the drawing grooves when drawing grooves are processed according to design line 9.

[0134] In this example, to represent the darkest gradation (gradation 0), pattern PTb, which does not have design lines (only in the power generation area), is also used. Pattern PTb is called the "black pattern". Also, as shown in Table 2, pattern PT1, which has the largest area ratio, is called the "white pattern".

[0135]

[0136] The area ratio and arrangement pitch of the design lines are not limited to the examples shown in Table 2. By deleting two or more dedicated design lines from the first design line pattern PT1, a second design line pattern PT2 with a smaller design line area ratio can be formed. This allows for a greater increase in the difference in area ratio between the two design line patterns PT1 and PT2. This is explained in Modification Example 1 below.

[0137] Furthermore, although the above example shows a number of gradations N of 3, it is also possible to increase the number of gradations N to 4 or more. For example, by varying the number of dedicated design lines deleted from the first design line pattern PT1, it is possible to form two or more design line patterns that represent intermediate colors. This will be explained in Modification Example 2 below.

[0138] - Modification 1 of the design line pattern Figure 11 shows modification 1 of the design line pattern.

[0139] The first design line pattern PT1 in Modification 1 is a basic pattern with basic units U arranged in the same way as in Figure 10B. However, in Modification 1, the three basic units U1 to U3 arranged in the Y direction in the first design line pattern PT1 are considered as one set. From each set, the design lines 9 of basic units U2 and U3 are designated as dedicated design lines 9b1 and 9b2 (sometimes collectively referred to as "dedicated design line 9b"), and the design line 9 of basic unit U1 is designated as a common design line 9a.

[0140] The second design line pattern PT2 is formed by deleting dedicated design lines 9b1 and 9b2 from the first design line pattern PT1. In the second design line pattern PT2, dw:dv2 = 1:14, and the area ratio R2 of design line 9 is 6.7%.

[0141] Table 3 shows the area ratio, arrangement pitch, and gradation of each design line pattern in Modification 1.

[0142] - Modification 2 of the design line pattern Figure 12 shows modification 2 of the design line pattern. Modification 2 differs from modification 1 in that it uses four design line patterns to achieve four grayscale levels (N=4).

[0143] The first design line pattern PT1 in Modification 2 is the same as the first design line pattern PT1 in Modification 1. Similar to Modification 1, the basic units U1 to U3 in the first design line pattern PT1 are set together, the design lines 9 of basic units U2 and U3 are designated as dedicated design lines 9b1 and 9b2, and the design line 9 of basic unit U1 is designated as a common design line 9a.

[0144] The second design line pattern PT2 is formed by deleting only one of the dedicated design lines (in this case, dedicated design line 9b2) from the first design line pattern PT1. In the second design line pattern PT2, the dedicated design line 9b1 is positioned between the two common design lines 9, with distances dv21 and dv22 from the two common design lines 9, respectively. In the second design line pattern PT2, dw:dv21:dv22 = 1:4:9, the average arrangement pitch dp2 of the design lines 9 when the line width dw is 1 is 7.5, and the area ratio R2 of the design lines 9 is approximately 13.3%.

[0145] Furthermore, the third design line pattern PT3 is formed by deleting two dedicated design lines 9b1 and 9b2 from the first design line pattern PT1. In the third design line pattern PT3, only the common design line 9a is arranged with a distance dv3 between them. In the third design line pattern PT3, dw:dv3 = 1:14, the average arrangement pitch dp3 of the design lines 9 is 15, and the area ratio R3 of the design lines 9 is 6.7%.

[0146] Table 4 shows the area ratio, arrangement pitch, and gradation of each design line pattern in Modification 2. In this Modification, as shown in Table 4, the second design line pattern PT2 and the third design line pattern PT3 are used to represent intermediate gradations 1 and 2 with different brightness levels.

[0147] In the example in Figure 12, three tones may be represented using only design line patterns PT1, PT2, and PTb. Furthermore, in the first design line pattern PT1, the number of tones N can be further increased by, for example, increasing the number of basic units U that make up one set. Increasing the number of basic units U that make up one set increases the number of dedicated design lines for each set. This allows for the creation of a wider variety of design line patterns by varying the number and position of dedicated design lines to be deleted when forming design line patterns for intermediate colors.

[0148] Furthermore, although the above examples show a number of grayscale levels N of 3 or more, the number of grayscale levels N may also be 2. In this case, the design to be displayed will be represented in black and white. When the number of grayscale levels N is 2, in step S3 only one type of design line pattern may be created, and a black pattern PTb without any design lines may be used as the other design line pattern. This reduces the area for forming drawing grooves in the photoelectric conversion layer, thereby minimizing the decrease in power generation efficiency due to groove formation.

[0149] <Groove Information> The groove information is constructed based on the design line patterns (first design line pattern PT1, second design line pattern PT2) determined in step S3 above. The black pattern PTb may or may not be included in the groove information.

[0150] The groove information includes line spacing information indicating the spacing between design lines 9, which is associated with the arrangement of drawing grooves. The line spacing information may also be the arrangement pitch of the design lines 9. In the example shown in Figure 11, the groove information corresponding to design line pattern PT1 includes line spacing information indicating the arrangement pitch dp1 of the design lines 9. The groove information corresponding to design line pattern PT2 includes line spacing information indicating the arrangement pitch dp2 of the design lines 9.

[0151] The groove information may further include information indicating line width. This line width information may include information on the machining width of the drawing groove, or information on the line width of the design line associated with that machining width. The groove information may also include information on the area ratio of the design line in the design line patterns PT1 and PT2. Furthermore, the groove information may be linked to information indicating the corresponding grayscale (referred to as "first grayscale information"). In the example shown in Figure 11, the first grayscale information may be the "grayscale after groove machining" shown in Table 3 above.

[0152] Note that the groove information does not necessarily have to include line width information. In this case, the desired processing conditions can be input to the processing device when processing the photoelectric conversion layer. By not including line width information in the groove information, the design line pattern can be selected regardless of the processing width of the drawing groove.

[0153] It is preferable that groove information be determined for each design line pattern, where the arrangement pitch, width, area ratio, etc., of the design lines differ from one another. This allows for the use of groove information corresponding to multiple design line patterns when creating the machining data described later.

[0154] In the above, design lines with line widths (sometimes called "design lines with widths") 9 are used to form a design line pattern based on the area ratio of the design lines. Alternatively, the line width information may be removed from the design line pattern formed in this way to form a design line pattern without widths. Alternatively, a design line pattern may be formed using design lines without widths that do not have line width information. Even in this case, it is possible to represent a desired gradation by varying the density of the design lines. For example, instead of the area ratio of the design lines, two or more design line patterns may be created by varying the arrangement pitch of the design lines, the spacing between adjacent design lines, etc. In this specification, when simply referred to as a "design line pattern," it may refer to either a design line pattern with widths or a design line pattern without widths. For example, even if a design line pattern with widths is illustrated as a "design line pattern," a design line pattern without widths can be used instead.

[0155] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of groove information.

[0156] In Figure 13, the design lines for design line patterns PT1 and PT2 use design lines without width information, namely widthless design lines 900a, 900b1, and 900b2. In this example, widthless design lines 900a, 900b1, and 900b2 correspond to the upper edges (or lower edges, or center lines) of the design lines with widths 9a, 9b1, and 9b2 shown in Figure 11, respectively. Widthless design lines 900a to 900b2 are sometimes collectively referred to simply as "design lines 900".

[0157] In the example shown in Figure 13, the groove information corresponding to design line pattern PT1 includes line spacing information 910 indicating the spacing ds1 of the design lines 900. The groove information corresponding to design line pattern PT2 includes line spacing information 920 indicating the spacing ds2 between the design lines 900. In this example, spacings ds1 and ds2 correspond to the array pitch of the design lines 900. In other words, the line spacing information 910 and 920 is information about the array pitch of design line patterns PT1 and PT2. In Figure 13, the data is shown with the design lines 900 drawn for clarity, but the groove information including line spacing information 910 and 920 may also be numerical data (for example, only the numerical value of the array pitch).

[0158] [Creation of Processing Data] Next, a method for creating processing data for forming grooves in the photoelectric conversion layer using the groove information determined by the above method will be explained. The processing data includes position information corresponding to the processing location of the grooves in the photoelectric conversion layer.

[0159] In this embodiment, processing data is created based on drawing data. Drawing data is, for example, data in which design lines corresponding to drawing grooves are added to a target pattern based on pattern data, or data created based on such data. Drawing data includes at least position information of the start and end points of the design lines. In this specification, a pattern in which design lines are added to a target pattern is called a "design line pattern," and a pattern represented by drawing grooves through processing of the photoelectric conversion layer is called a "display pattern" to distinguish between the two.

[0160] Figure 14 is a flowchart showing an example of a method for creating processing data. As shown in Figure 14, the method for creating drawing data includes a pattern data acquisition step (S10), a drawing data creation step (S20), and a processing data creation step (S30). The drawing data creation step (S20) includes recognizing the outline of the target pattern (S21), determining the assignment of design line patterns to the target pattern (S22), and placing design lines on the target pattern (creating a design line pattern) (S23).

[0161] At least some, preferably all, of the steps shown in Figure 14 can be performed using a processing data creation device such as a computer. Alternatively, a program (or program product) may be used to have a computer perform some or all of the above processing data creation methods.

[0162] <Processing Data Creation Device> Figure 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating a processing data creation device. As shown in Figure 15, the processing data creation device (hereinafter simply referred to as "device") 1000 comprises a control unit 1001 and a storage unit 1002. A personal computer may be used as the device 1000, for example.

[0163] The control unit 1001 includes a general-purpose processor such as a CPU or MPU that performs predetermined functions by executing a program. The control unit 1001 is configured to communicate with the storage unit 1002 and performs various processes by calling and executing data, calculation programs, etc., stored in the storage unit 1002.

[0164] The storage unit 1002 may be implemented as, for example, a memory such as DRAM, SRAM, or flash memory, an HDD, an SSD, or other storage device, or a combination thereof as appropriate. The storage unit 1002 may also store programs for the control unit 1001 to perform various processes.

[0165] The device 1000 may further include an input unit for taking in pattern data such as image data, and an output unit for outputting the created processing data to a processing device.

[0166] The device 1000 is realized through the cooperation of hardware resources, such as a processor and memory, and software (computer programs).

[0167] The program for executing each of the above processes may be stored in the storage unit 1002, or it may be recorded on a computer-readable non-temporary recording medium such as a CD-ROM. If it is recorded on a recording medium, the device 1000 may read the program from the recording medium and execute the program to perform each process.

[0168] <Storage of Groove Information> The storage unit 1002 of the device 1000 stores the groove information described above. In this example, the storage unit 1002 stores three groove information entries corresponding to the design line patterns PT1, PT2, and PTb, respectively. The groove information may be taken into and stored in the device 1000 (for example, a personal computer). The data format of the groove information is not particularly limited, but it may be stored as CAD data, for example.

[0169] It is desirable that the groove information be stored in the storage unit 1002 before the drawing data creation process (S20). More preferably, it is stored in the storage unit 1002 before the pattern data acquisition process (S10). Storing the groove information in the storage unit 1002 makes it easier to apply it in the process of assigning design line patterns (S22), which will be described later, and reduces the processing load.

[0170] <S10: Importing Pattern Data> Next, using Figures 16A to 16H, we will explain the process from importing pattern data (S10) to determining processing data (S30). Here, we will explain an example of creating processing data based on three groove information corresponding to the design line patterns PT1, PT2, and PTb shown in Figure 11 and Table 3.

[0171] Figure 16A is an example of a target pattern 400T. In this example, for example, a rectangular area 401 contains a rhombus 402 and a circle 403 located inside the rhombus 402. Area 401 is, for example, the area corresponding to the pattern display area DR.

[0172] First, the target design 400T is imported as design data. The target design 400T may, for example, be designed on CAD and imported into a personal computer as CAD data. The target design 400T may also be imported into a personal computer as image data, such as JPEG data. The target design 400T may also be a painting, illustration, photograph, etc.

[0173] <S21: Recognizing the outline of the target pattern> Next, the outline of the target pattern 400T is recognized. In this example, the outlines of the rhombus 402 and the circle 403, and the outline of the region 401 if necessary are recognized.

[0174] This recognition schematically identifies multiple parts of the target pattern 400T that are defined by their contours. Here, the first part d1 enclosed by the contour of the circle 403, the second part d2 located between the contour of the circle 403 and the contour of the rhombus 402, and the third part d3 outside the rhombus 402 are identified.

[0175] Furthermore, it is desirable to identify information indicating the gradation in each of the multiple parts d1 to d3 defined by the contour, based on the pattern data. In this specification, the information indicating the gradation identified from the pattern data is called "secondary gradation information" and is distinguished from the primary gradation information linked to the groove information. As secondary gradation information, information that is consistent with the primary gradation information linked to the groove information may be linked to each of the multiple parts d1 to d3. For example, secondary gradation information that is consistent with the brightest gradation among the primary gradation information of the groove information (gradation 2 in the example shown in Figure 11) may be linked to the brightest primary part d1 of the target pattern 400T.

[0176] Identifying the second grayscale information clarifies the criteria for the process of determining the assignment of design line patterns (S22). The second grayscale information is defined by at least two levels, but is not limited to this; any desired level can be set. In particular, it should be set according to the degree of shading of the pattern that you ultimately want to display.

[0177] The second grayscale information may be identified, for example, by performing a grayscale processing on the target pattern 400T before or after the step of recognizing the contour of the target pattern (S21). Specifically, the grayscale processing involves converting the target pattern 400T to at least two levels of grayscale. The grayscale of the target pattern 400T may be identified based on the color tone of the target pattern 400T. If the grayscale processing is performed before the step of recognizing the contour of the target pattern (S21), the contour may be recognized according to the converted grayscale. Alternatively, the already grayscaled target pattern 400T may be acquired in the pattern data acquisition step (S10).

[0178] Furthermore, the second-tone information in each of the multiple parts d1 to d3 defined by the contour does not necessarily have to perfectly match the differences in tone shown in the target pattern 400T. For example, when the target pattern 400T is represented by multiple tones or subdivided tones, it may be difficult to perform laser processing to represent it exactly as is. In such cases, for example, if the difference in tone or tone between two adjacent areas in the target pattern 400T is within a predetermined range, the second-tone information of these areas may be the same. On the other hand, if the difference in tone or tone between two adjacent areas exceeds a predetermined range, the boundary between the two areas may be recognized as a contour, and the second-tone information associated with the two areas may be different. As a result, the display pattern shown in the aforementioned pattern display area DR may be inferior in terms of expression of shades and brightness compared to the target pattern 400T, but may still have sufficient quality as a pattern that evokes the target pattern 400T. Therefore, it is possible to achieve both the quality of the display pattern and the performance of the power generation unit 3.

[0179] The second grayscale information is linked to each of the multiple parts d1 to d3 defined by the contour and is stored in the storage unit 1002 at least temporarily. It is desirable that the information of the multiple parts d1 to d3 defined by the contour be layered according to the difference in grayscale. For example, it is desirable that the information indicating the contour of each part d1 to d3 be separated by grayscale. This makes it easier to place the design line pattern in the design line pattern placement process (S23) described later, and reduces the processing load.

[0180] <S22: Determining the assignment of design line patterns to the target pattern> Next, based on the stored groove information, it is determined which design line patterns included in the groove information will be assigned to which parts d1 to d3 of the target pattern 400T. The design line patterns to be assigned are determined for each part d1 to d3 defined by the contour. Specifically, the first grayscale information of each design line pattern linked to the groove information is compared with the second grayscale information of each part d1 to d3 defined by the contour, and the design line patterns to be assigned to each part d1 to d3 are determined.

[0181] Here, as shown in Figure 16A, the brightest first design line pattern PT1 is assigned to the first part d1, the darkest black pattern PTb is assigned to the third part d3 which forms the background, and the second design line pattern PT2 with an intermediate brightness is assigned to the second part d2. In this example, three types of design line patterns are assigned, but this is not limited to this, and any number of design line patterns may be assigned. In particular, it is desirable to assign the number of types of design line patterns according to the degree of shading of the final image to be displayed.

[0182] Furthermore, in this process (S22), it is desirable that the data format of the target pattern 400T closely matches the data format of the groove information. This makes it easier to associate the multiple parts d1 to d3 of the target pattern 400T with the groove information, which includes the design line patterns to be assigned to them, as data.

[0183] In the pattern data acquisition step (S10), the data format of the pattern data acquired may differ from the data format of the stored groove information. In such cases, it is desirable to convert the data format of the pattern data to match the groove information before this step (S22). Groove information is often stored in the device 1000 in a desired data format that matches the data format of the output processing data or the data format required by the laser processing device. For this reason, it is more efficient to proceed with processing in the stored groove information data format to create the processing data. Note that the method of converting the data format is not limited to this method. Both the data format of the pattern data and the data format of the groove information may be converted to the optimal data format. Alternatively, the data format of the groove information may be matched to the pattern data.

[0184] <S23: Placing design lines on the target pattern> Next, design lines 9 are placed on each part d1 to d3 of the target pattern 400T according to the assigned design line pattern. There are no particular limitations on the method of placing the design lines 9, but here we will explain using the case where a common design line 9a and a dedicated design line 9b are placed separately across the entire area 401 as an example.

[0185] Figure 17A shows a first pattern used for arranging common design lines on the target pattern. Figure 17B shows a second pattern used for arranging dedicated design lines on the target pattern.

[0186] The first pattern 420 contains only the common design lines 9a of the respective design line patterns PT1 and PT2. The second pattern 430 contains only the dedicated design lines 9b of the first design line pattern PT1. Therefore, when the first pattern 420 and the second pattern 430 are superimposed, the first design line pattern PT1 is obtained. In this case, the stored groove information may include information indicating the first pattern 420 and the second pattern 430, respectively.

[0187] Next, as shown in Figures 16B to 16E, the design lines are placed on the target pattern using the first pattern 420 and the second pattern 430.

[0188] First, as shown in Figure 16B, the first pattern 420 is superimposed over the entire region 401. Next, as shown in Figure 16C, the common design line 9a located in the unnecessary portion (here, the third portion d3) is removed. Similarly, as shown in Figure 16D, the second pattern 430 is superimposed over the entire region 401. Next, as shown in Figure 16E, the dedicated design line 9b located in the unnecessary portion (here, the second portion d2 and the third portion d3) is removed. In this way, the design line pattern 400D is obtained by arranging the design lines 9, including the common design line 9a and the dedicated design line 9b, on the target pattern 400T.

[0189] In the method described above, the number of design lines to be removed is correlated with the gradation level. Specifically, the higher the gradation level (the brighter the image), the fewer design lines are removed. Therefore, the number of design lines to be removed can be calculated according to the second gradation information associated with each of the multiple parts d1 to d3 defined by the contour. In this example, no design lines are removed in the first part d1, which has the highest gradation level (gradation 2 in this case). In the second part d2, which has the next highest gradation level (gradation 1 in this case), one design line (dedicated design line 9b in this case) is removed. In the third part d3, which has the lowest gradation level (gradation 0 in this case), all design lines (common design line 9a and dedicated design line 9b in this case) are removed.

[0190] In the first part d1 of the design line pattern 400D, a common design line 9a and a dedicated design line 9b are arranged in the first design line pattern PT1. In the second part d2, only the common design line 9a is arranged in the second design line pattern PT2. The common design line 9a located in the first part d1 and the common design line 9a located in the second part d2 are connected to each other across the outline of the circle 403, forming a single line (the "design line for processing," described later). No design lines are placed in the third part d3.

[0191] In Figures 16B to 16E, common design lines and dedicated design lines are arranged separately. However, all design lines may be placed across the entire region 401 first, and then unnecessary design lines may be removed.

[0192] Figures 18A to 18C are schematic diagrams showing other examples of how design lines are arranged. In this example, as shown in Figure 18A, a pattern 440 is used to arrange all the design lines (common design lines and dedicated design lines). When using the same target pattern 400T as shown in Figure 16A, first, as shown in Figure 18B, the pattern 440 is superimposed over the entire area 401 to arrange the common design lines 9a and dedicated design lines 9b. Next, as shown in Figure 18C, unnecessary parts of these design lines 9a and 9b are removed. Here, the common design line 9a located in the third section d3 and the dedicated design lines 9b located in the second section d2 and the third section d3 are removed. This results in the design line pattern 400D.

[0193] In this specification, the area defined by the outline of the pattern identified based on the pattern data and including design lines (parts d1 and d2 in Figure 16E) may be referred to as the "drawing area." For example, the second part d2 shown in Figure 16E may be referred to as the "first drawing area," and the first part d1, where the spacing of the design lines 9 is smaller than that of the second part d2, may be referred to as the "second drawing area." On the other hand, the area that does not include design lines (third part d3 in Figure 16E) is referred to as the non-drawing area. In the example shown in Figure 16E, each drawing area (parts d1 and d2) is defined only by the outline of the pattern, but as will be described later, the boundary lines of each drawing area may be defined by the outline of the pattern and dividing lines that identify the area corresponding to the processing area.

[0194] <Drawing Data> The drawing data may be the design line pattern 400D itself, or it may be data determined based on the design line pattern 400D.

[0195] In this embodiment, as illustrated in Figures 16F and 16G, in the design line pattern 400D, the intersection points of the design lines 9a and 9b, which are placed in each part d1 to d3 of the pattern, with the contours (boundaries) of those parts are identified as the start and end points of the design lines 9a and 9b. Specifically, as shown by the × marks in Figure 16F, the intersection points of the design lines 9a and 9b placed in the first part d1 with the boundary line of the first part d1 (in this case, the contour of the circle 403) are found and identified as the start point α1 and end point α2 of the design lines 9a and 9b. Similarly, as shown by the ○ marks (white circles) in Figure 16G, the intersection points of the design line 9a placed in the second part d2 with the boundary line of the second part d2 (in this case, the contours of the circle 403 and the rhombus 402) are found and identified as the start point β1 and end point β2 of the design line 9a.

[0196] The drawing data includes position information for the starting points α1, β1 and ending points α2, β2 of each design line 9a, 9b identified above. The position information may, for example, be information indicating the coordinates (X, Y) of each point in an XY coordinate system with the lower left vertex of region 401 as the origin. In the illustrated example, the design lines are width-defined design lines with line widths. In such a case, it is sufficient to determine the coordinates of the starting and ending points of the upper edge (or center line or lower edge) of each design line. For clarity, in this specification, the end of the design line located on the -X side is referred to as the "starting point," and the other end as the "ending point." Note that either end of the design line may be used as the starting point. Furthermore, the position of the coordinate origin is not particularly limited.

[0197] The position information of the drawing data is necessary in the process of creating the processing data (S30) described later, and is different from the position information of the design lines for processing included in the final output processing data. In this specification, the position information included in the drawing data is sometimes referred to as "first position information," and the position information included in the processing data is sometimes referred to as "second position information" to distinguish between the two.

[0198] The drawing data may or may not include information indicating the contours (boundaries) of each part d1 to d3, in addition to the first position information. Even if the drawing data does not contain information indicating contours, processing data can be created if the first position information of the start and end points of each design line 9a and 9b is available.

[0199] In this step (S23), it is preferable that the data format of the target pattern 400T closely matches the data format of the groove information. This simplifies the process of placing the design lines 9 along the assigned design line patterns for each part d1 to d3 of the target pattern 400T. The conversion method is not particularly limited, but as mentioned above, it is preferable to convert the data format of the pattern data to match the groove information before this step (S23).

[0200] It is desirable that the design line pattern 400D be set to the actual size of the display pattern formed on the photoelectric conversion layer by laser processing. This makes it easier to apply the positional information of the start and end points of each design line obtained to the processing data. Information regarding the actual dimensions of the processing area to be laser processed (for example, the size of the pattern display area DR in the photoelectric conversion layer) may be stored in advance in the storage unit 1002 of the device 1000, or it may be input to the device 1000 before this step (S23).

[0201] <S30: Creation of Processing Data> Next, processing data shown in Figure 16H is created using the drawing data (Figures 16F and 16G) based on the design line pattern 400D. The method for creating the processing data will be explained with reference to Figures 16F to 16H.

[0202] As shown in Figure 16H, the machining data includes positional information ("second positional information") for the start point γ1 and end point γ2 of each machining design line 9p. In Figure 16H, these points γ1 and γ2 are schematically shown as ● marks (black circles).

[0203] The design line 9p for machining shown in Figure 16H is identified based on the design lines 9a and 9b shown in Figures 16F and 16G. In this example, in the design line pattern 400D, two adjacent design lines 9a of parts d1 and d2 connect to form one design line 9p. On the other hand, among the design lines 9a and 9b of each part d1 and d2, those that do not connect to the design lines of adjacent parts become design lines 9p on their own. In this specification, design lines for machining may sometimes be simply referred to as "lines".

[0204] The starting point γ1 and ending point γ2 of each design line 9p for machining are determined based on the first position information of the drawing data (position information of points α1, α2, β1, and β2 shown in Figures 16F and 16G). As an example, in the design line pattern 400D, as shown in Figures 16F and 16G, the design line 9a_2 in the second part d2 and the design line 9a_1 in the first part d1 are connected to form one design line 9p for machining shown in Figure 16H. In other words, the coordinates of the ending point β2 of the design line 9a_2 coincide with the coordinates of the starting point α1 of the design line 9a_1. The coordinates of these coincident points can be deleted, and the remaining coordinates, namely the coordinates of the starting point β1 of the design line 9a_2 and the coordinates of the ending point α2 of the design line 9a_1, can be used as the coordinates of the starting point γ1 and ending point γ2 of the design line 9p, respectively. On the other hand, since the design line 9b does not connect to the design lines of other parts, the coordinates of the starting point α1 and ending point α2 of the design line 9b shown in Figure 16F may be used as the coordinates of the starting point γ1 and ending point γ2 of the machining design line 9p, which is composed solely of the design line 9b.

[0205] Alternatively, the start and end points of each processing design line may be determined without specifying the intersection points between the design lines placed on each part of the pattern and the contour (boundary line) of that part. In other words, Figures 16F and 16G may be omitted. For example, by directly referencing the start and end points of the design line 9a of the design line pattern 400D in Figure 16E as the first position information of the drawing data, the start and end points of the processing design line 9p can be determined without determining the intersection points between the design line 9a and each part.

[0206] The second positional information of the start point γ1 and end point γ2 of each machining design line 9p may be, for example, the coordinates (X, Y) in the region 401 of the start point γ1 and end point γ2. For example, if the coordinates of the start point γ1 are (5, 5) and the coordinates of the end point γ2 are (10, 5), then it can be seen that the design line is a straight line with a distance of 5 extending in the X direction. If the machining design line 9p has a line width, the coordinates of the start and end points of the upper edge (or center line or lower edge) of each machining design line should be determined. In the illustrated example, the machining data includes information on the line width of each machining design line 9p, but it does not have to include it.

[0207] The second position information of the starting point γ1 and ending point γ2 may be position information that has been enlarged or reduced by the same magnification to match the actual dimensions of the area to be processed by laser processing. In this case, it is desirable that the position information of the starting point γ1 and ending point γ2 of all processing design lines 9p is enlarged or reduced by the same magnification. This maintains the similarity between the design (display pattern) formed by laser processing based on the position information of the processing design lines 9p and the target pattern acquired in the pattern data acquisition process (S10).

[0208] Furthermore, as described above with reference to Figure 6, when a drawing groove is formed by multiple sub-grooves, sub-design lines corresponding to each sub-groove may be placed on the target pattern. In this case, the positions of the ends of the multiple sub-design lines included in a single machining design line 9p in the X direction may be made different from each other so as to follow the contour of the target pattern. In this case, the second position information of the machining data includes the coordinates of the start and end points of the multiple sub-design lines that constitute each machining design line. The machining data may further include information on the line width and number of sub-design lines that constitute the machining design line.

[0209] Next, the created processing data is recorded or output to, for example, a computer-readable recording medium. Before recording or outputting the processing data created by the above method, it may be converted to a data format required by the laser processing device.

[0210] As mentioned above, the processing data is input into the laser processing device and used to process the drawing grooves. Each drawing groove is formed by laser processing so as to extend linearly from a position corresponding to the starting point γ1 of the corresponding processing design line 9p to a position corresponding to the ending point γ2.

[0211] (Modification of data creation method) <Modification 1 of drawing data creation process S20> Referring to Figures 16B to 16E, in the process S20 described above, first, design lines 9a and 9b are sequentially placed over the entire area 401 that is located in the processing area, and unnecessary parts of the design lines are deleted. In contrast, in this modification, design lines are placed only in the necessary areas, and no design lines are deleted.

[0212] In this modified example 1, in the design line pattern placement step (S23), the assigned design line patterns PT1, PT2, and PTb are placed on each of the multiple parts d1 to d3 defined by the contour. That is, design line pattern PT1 is superimposed and placed only on the first part d1, and design line pattern PT2 is superimposed and placed only on the second part d2. Even with this method, the design line pattern shown in Figure 16E is ultimately created, and drawing data equivalent to that of the above step can be obtained.

[0213] In this modified example, it is preferable that the multiple parts d1 to d3 defined by the contour be stored as layered data according to the difference in gradation. That is, it is desirable to have information indicating the contour of each part separated by gradation. This allows, for example, even if there are multiple parts representing the same gradation, to place the design line pattern in all parts of region 401 with a simpler process, as the process of overlapping and arranging the design line pattern only needs to be repeated for the number of gradations.

[0214] <Modification 2 of drawing data creation process S20> In process S20 described above, referring to Figures 16B to 16E, in order to represent the darkest gradation (gradation 0), the black pattern PTb without design lines (only in the power generation area) is also stored in advance as groove information. In contrast, in this modification, the stored groove information does not include the black pattern PTb without design lines. In other words, in the case of 3 gradations, the stored groove information consists of only two groove pieces corresponding to the design line patterns PT1 and PT2, and in the case of 2 gradations, only one groove piece corresponding to one type of design line pattern. In this modification, since the black pattern PTb is not stored, the process of assigning the black pattern PTb is unnecessary.

[0215] In this modified example, in the design line pattern assignment step (S22), it is first determined whether or not to assign a design line pattern to each of the multiple parts d1 to d3 defined by the contour. Specifically, the first grayscale information linked to the groove information is compared with the second grayscale information of each of the multiple parts d1 to d3 defined by the contour, and a decision is made whether or not to assign it.

[0216] If it is determined that the design line pattern should be assigned, the corresponding design line pattern will be assigned to that part in the same process as described above.

[0217] If it is determined that a design line pattern will not be assigned to a particular area, then it is decided that no design line pattern will be assigned to that area. Here, the area that is "not assigned" is the area with the smallest grayscale, i.e., the non-drawing area, and in the example shown in Figure 16A, this corresponds to the third area d3.

[0218] Next, in the design line pattern placement step (S23), the assigned design line patterns PT1 and PT2 are superimposed and placed on each of the multiple parts d1 and d2 defined by the contour. In this modified example, it is preferable to use a method in which the design line patterns corresponding to each of the multiple parts d1 and d2 are superimposed and placed, similar to the modified example 1 above, rather than a method of placing design lines on the entire region 401. In this case, the parts to which no design line pattern is assigned become parts that do not contain design lines (the darkest parts). Even with this method, the design line pattern shown in Figure 16E is ultimately created, and drawing data equivalent to that of the above step can be obtained.

[0219] <Modified version of processing data creation process S30> In this modified version, the processing data is composed of multiple divided processing data, obtained by dividing the entire design line pattern 400D into multiple parts.

[0220] Depending on the size of the design to be displayed and the laser processing equipment used, it may be necessary to perform laser processing on a processing area larger than the scanning area of ​​the laser processing equipment (for example, the design display area DR of the photoelectric conversion layer). The scanning area is determined by factors such as the optical design constraints of the laser processing equipment. In such cases, for example, the design display area DR of the optical conversion layer can be divided into areas corresponding to the size of the scanning area (hereinafter referred to as "processing areas"), and laser processing can be performed sequentially for each processing area. However, it can be difficult to directly apply processing data corresponding to the entire design line pattern to the laser processing of each processing area. Furthermore, for reasons other than the optical design of the laser processing equipment, the design display area DR may be divided into arbitrary processing areas for laser processing. In this case as well, it is difficult to apply processing data corresponding to the entire design line pattern.

[0221] In contrast, this modified example allows for processing of each processing area using divided processing data with dimensions corresponding to the processing area of ​​the laser processing device. Therefore, processing data can be applied to the laser processing device more easily.

[0222] Figures 19A to 19C are schematic diagrams illustrating the method of creating divided processing data from design line patterns, with Figures 19A and 19B illustrating divided drawing data, and Figure 19C illustrating divided processing data.

[0223] In the design line pattern 400D shown in Figure 19A, widthless design lines 900a and 900b are placed in each portion d1 to d3. The area containing the design line pattern 400D (the area corresponding to the pattern display area DR) is divided into multiple (in this case, nine) rectangular areas 401a to 401i of the same size by grid-like dividing lines. Each area 401a to 401i is called a "divided area," and the drawing data corresponding to each divided area is called "divided drawing data." Note that in Figure 19A, the design line pattern 400D is a widthless design line pattern, but a design line pattern with a width may be used instead.

[0224] Information indicating the dividing lines may be pre-stored in the device 1000 shown in Figure 15, or it may be input into the device together with the pattern data. The dividing lines may be added to the design line pattern 400D based on the information indicating the dividing lines, after the pattern data acquisition step S10 and before the processing data creation step S30. Alternatively, the dividing lines may be included in the pattern data beforehand.

[0225] It is desirable that each divided region 401a to 401i has the same dimensions. For example, the divided regions 401a to 401i may be composed of equal divisions of the entire design line pattern 400D. The number of divisions of the design line pattern 400D, the size and shape of the divided regions, etc., may be determined by referring to predetermined values ​​or conditions that are pre-stored or input into the device 1000 as information indicating the dividing lines, or they may be determined based on the size of the entire target pattern of the captured pattern data. The divided regions may be, for example, the size corresponding to the scanning area of ​​the laser of a laser processing device (for example, the scanning area by a galvanometer mirror). Each divided region is, for example, a square. In Figure 19A, the dividing lines are straight lines, but the dividing lines may be lines that enclose divided regions of any size and shape, and may be partially or entirely curved.

[0226] As illustrated in Figure 19B, each of the divided drawing data may include first position information of the start and end points of the design lines 900a and 900b in the corresponding divided region.

[0227] In the design line pattern 400D shown in Figure 19B, the centrally located division region 401e will be explained as an example. The division region 401e includes a first portion d11 to which the design line pattern PT1 is assigned, a second portion d21 to which the design line pattern PT2 is assigned, and a third portion d31 which is a non-drawing area where no design lines are placed. The boundary lines defining the drawing areas d11 and d21 are defined by at least one of the outline lines of the pattern identified based on the pattern data and the division lines defining the division region 401e. For example, the first portion d11 to which the design line pattern PT1 is placed is the area enclosed by the division lines defining the division region 401e and the outline lines of the circle 403. The second portion d21 to which the design line pattern PT2 is placed is the area enclosed by the division lines defining the division region 401e and the outline lines of the circle 403 and the rhombus 402. The divided drawing data for divided region 401e includes position information of the intersection points α1 and α2 (marked with an "x" in Figure 19B) between the design lines 900a and 900b in the first part d11 and the boundary line of the second part d11, and position information of the intersection points β1 and β2 (marked with a "circle" in Figure 19B) between the design line 900a in the second part d21 and the boundary line of the second part d21.

[0228] Next, as shown in Figure 19C, processing data for each divided region is created from the above divided drawing data.

[0229] In this modified example, as explained with reference to Figures 16F to 16H, the design lines 900a and 900b of each portion d11 and d21 constitute the machining design line 900p. The coordinates of the start point γ1 and end point γ2 of the machining design line 900p are determined based on the coordinates of the start and end points of the design lines 900a and 900b. For example, the design line 900a_1 of the first portion d11 and the design line 900a_2 of the second portion d21 shown in Figure 19B are connected on the boundary which is the outline of the circle 403, forming a single machining design line 900p as shown in Figure 19C.

[0230] Here, the start and end points of each processing design line may be determined without specifying the intersection points between the design lines placed on each part of the pattern and the contour (boundary line) of that part. For example, by directly referencing one endpoint of the design line 900a of the design line pattern 400D in Figure 19A as the first position information of the drawing data, one endpoint of the processing design line 900p can be directly identified without determining the intersection points between the design line 900a and each part.

[0231] The positional information of the starting point γ1 and ending point γ2 of the design line 900p for processing may be redefined as positional information within its divided region 401e. For example, the coordinates (X, Y) of the starting point γ1 and ending point γ2, expressed in the XY coordinate system in the pattern display area DR, can be redefined as the coordinates (x, y) of the starting point γ1 and ending point γ2, expressed in the xy coordinate system with the lower left vertex of the rectangular divided region 401e as the origin. The coordinates (x, y) of each point can be calculated based on the XY coordinate system information for the entire design line pattern and the xy coordinate system information for the divided drawing data. It is desirable that the origins of the xy coordinates in multiple divided regions be defined at the same position (for example, at the lower left vertex in each divided region).

[0232] In this modified example, some of the divided regions 401a to 401c, 401g, and 401i are composed of non-drawing regions that do not contain any design lines for processing. The divided processing data for these regions may be created as divided processing data that does not have position information for the start and end points. In this case, the number of divided processing data files will match the number of divisions of the design line pattern 400D, making data organization easier. Alternatively, the divided regions 401a to 401c, 401g, and 401i may be stored as regions that are not processed, and it may be unnecessary to create divided processing data for these regions. In this case, the divided processing data created will only contain data for the divided regions that require processing by the laser processing device, thus reducing the number of divided processing data files and making it easier for the laser processing device to read the data.

[0233] According to this modified example, by using segmented processing data, the laser processing apparatus can process one processing area included in the pattern display area DR of the photoelectric conversion layer based on one segmented processing data, and then process another processing area based on another segmented drawing data. By repeating the processing for each processing area in this way, a drawing groove corresponding to the entire design line pattern 400D can ultimately be formed in the photoelectric conversion layer.

[0234] During actual processing, the laser processing device, for example, processes one processing area based on one division processing data, and then shifts the relative position of the optical conversion layer to the processing area so that the coordinate origin is offset according to the size of the division area. This allows the laser processing device to start processing the processing area based on the next division processing data. Furthermore, by changing the offset amount, for example, it is possible to skip areas corresponding to division processing data that do not include processing design lines (i.e., areas that do not include position information) and move to the processing area corresponding to another division processing data. The offset amount can be calculated based on information indicating the size or position of each division area.

[0235] Each divided processing data may be linked to corresponding placement information within the entire design line pattern 400D. The format of the placement information is not particularly limited and may be stored as a table corresponding to the position information of each processing design line 900p, or as a number assigned according to a predetermined rule. The placement information may be input to the laser processing device, for example, as the processing order. Divided areas 401a to 401c, 401g, and 401i that do not include the start and end points of the processing design lines 900p may be stored as areas that will not be processed, corresponding to the placement information.

[0236] In this way, by linking the divided processing data with information about placement, it becomes easier to understand the position of the processing area within the pattern display area DR based on the divided drawing data during actual laser processing. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of design quality caused by dividing the pattern display area DR, which is the area to be processed, into multiple parts for processing.

[0237] (Example 1) Example 1 describes a method for creating drawing data based on a target pattern and forming a display pattern 200 (Figure 7) using the drawing data. Figures 20A to 20C show the method for creating the drawing data in Example 1.

[0238] In this embodiment, first, the outline of the target pattern 200T is drawn as shown in Figure 20A. The target pattern 200T is the same as the target pattern 200T shown in Figure 5. Next, the design rules and design line patterns are determined, and the obtained groove information is stored. In this embodiment, the maximum aperture ratio M is set to 20%, the number of gradations N is set to 3, and the design line patterns PT1, PT2, and PTb shown in Figure 11 and Table 3 are used.

[0239] Next, the target pattern 200T in Figure 20A is imported as pattern data. After this, the outline of the target pattern 200T is recognized, the parts of the clothing, hands, and cookies are identified, and one of the design line patterns is assigned to each part. In this embodiment, the first design line pattern PT1 (grayscale 2) is assigned to the character's hand part 411, the second design line pattern PT2 (grayscale 1) is assigned to the clothing part 412, and the black pattern PTb (grayscale 0) is assigned to the background and cookie part 413.

[0240] Next, as shown in Figure 20B, the first pattern 420 (Figure 17A) is superimposed over the entire drawing area, and then the common design lines 9a are removed from the background and cookie portion 413 where they are not needed.

[0241] Next, as shown in Figure 20C, the second pattern 430 (Figure 17B) is superimposed over the entire drawing area, and then the dedicated design lines 9b are removed from the clothing portion 412, the background, and the cookie portion 413. In this way, a design line pattern 200D is obtained in which the common design lines 9a and the dedicated design lines 9b are applied to predetermined portions.

[0242] Next, drawing data including position information for the common design line 9a and dedicated design line 9b of the design line pattern 200D is determined. The position information may also be the position information (XY coordinates) of the start and end points of each of the multiple sub-design lines that make up the design lines 9a and 9b in each section 411, 412.

[0243] Next, based on the position information of the drawing data, processing data including the position information of the processing design line is determined and input to the laser processing device. The laser output of the laser processing device is set so that a groove of a depth that exposes the lower electrode layer 31 is formed. Furthermore, the laser aperture width is set so that the drawing groove 5 has a predetermined width corresponding to the width of the processing design line.

[0244] Next, the laser processing device is operated according to the processing data, and laser processing is performed on the power generation section to form multiple drawing grooves 5 (common grooves 5a and dedicated grooves 5b) in the power generation section 3. Here, the common groove 5a is formed at the position corresponding to the common design line 9a, and the dedicated groove 5b is formed at the position corresponding to the dedicated design line 9b. In this way, as shown in Figure 7, a drawing groove pattern 200 (display pattern) using the multiple drawing grooves 5 can be displayed in the pattern display area DR of the power generation section.

[0245] (Example 2) Example 2 differs from Example 1 in that it forms a display pattern with 4 grayscale levels (N=4). Figure 21A shows the design line pattern of Example 2. Figure 21B shows the display pattern formed based on the design line pattern of Figure 21A.

[0246] In Example 2, the target design uses the same character clothing and hand design as in Figure 18. However, in this example, the clothing has a diamond pattern. The design rules are a maximum aperture ratio M of 20% and a number of gradations N of 4. The design line patterns used are the first design line patterns PT1 to the third design line patterns PT3 shown in Figure 12 and Table 4, and the black pattern PTb.

[0247] Next, similar to Example 1, the outlines of the target character's clothing (including patterns) and hands are recognized, and design lines 9 are placed. Here, the first design line pattern PT1 (3 gradations) is assigned to the hand portion 411, the second design line pattern PT2 (2 gradations) to the pattern portion of the clothing 414, the third design line pattern PT3 (1 gradation) to the clothing portion (without patterns) 412, and the black pattern PTb (0 gradations) to the background portion and cookie portion 413. After this, design lines 9 are placed on each portion 411, 412, and 414. In this way, the design line pattern 210D shown in Figure 21A is obtained.

[0248] As an example of the arrangement of design lines 9, a first pattern (e.g., Figure 17A) may be used for the common design line 9a, and for the arrangement of dedicated design lines 9b, a second pattern consisting only of dedicated design line 9b1 and a third pattern consisting only of dedicated design line 9b2 may be used (see, for example, Figure 17B). Alternatively, a pattern including all design lines (e.g., Figure 18A) may be used to form the common design line 9a and dedicated design lines 9b1 and 9b2 across the entire drawing area, and then unnecessary parts may be deleted.

[0249] In the design line pattern 210D, multiple common design lines 9a and multiple dedicated design lines 9b1 are arranged in the pattern area 414. Each dedicated design line 9b1 is placed between two adjacent common design lines 9a.

[0250] The common design line 9a located in the patterned area 414 extends from the patterned area 414 across the garment area 412 to the hand area 411. The dedicated design line 9b1 located in the patterned area 414 has its end at the outline of the pattern and does not extend into the garment area 412. Therefore, the patterned area 414 has a larger area ratio of design lines 9 than the garment area 412 by the amount of the dedicated design line 9b1 (it appears brighter after grooving). In the hand area 411, two dedicated design lines 9b1 and 9b2 are positioned between adjacent common design lines 9a. Therefore, after grooving, the hand area 411 appears even brighter than the patterned area 414.

[0251] The special design line 9b1 of the patterned section 414 is in the same position in the Y direction as one of the special design lines 9b1 of the hand section 411. Therefore, the special design line 9b1 appears to jump over the clothing section 412 and connect to the special design line 9b1 of the hand section 411.

[0252] Next, drawing data is created that includes positional information for each design line shown in the design line pattern 210D of Figure 21A.

[0253] Next, based on the drawing data, processing data including position information of the design lines for processing is determined and input to the laser processing device. The laser processing device uses the processing data to perform laser processing on the power generation layer. In this way, a display pattern 210 showing the character's clothes and hands is formed, as shown in Figure 21B. In the display pattern 210, the hands are in a bright (3-tone) first region r1, the pattern of the clothes is in a second region r2 (2-tone), the clothes are in a third region r3 (1-tone), which is darker than the pattern, and the background and cookies are in the darkest (0-tone) fourth region r4. In Figure 21B, the virtual boundary L3 (outline of the pattern) between the second region r2 and the first region r3 is shown by a solid line.

[0254] (Effect) The method for creating machining data in this embodiment includes the steps of: acquiring pattern data (S10) which includes information corresponding to the target pattern 200T; and determining machining data based on the pattern data and first information which includes first line spacing information (for example, in the example shown in Figure 11, the arrangement pitch dp2) which indicates the interval associated with the arrangement of a plurality of grooves. The machining data includes position information which indicates the starting point γ1 and ending point γ2 of a plurality of lines 9p that are parallel to the first direction (X direction) with intervals based on the first line spacing information, as shown in Figure 16H.

[0255] According to the above method, processing data (drawing data) for processing the photoelectric conversion layer to form drawing grooves can be easily created. The processing data created by this method can be applied to various laser processing devices. When processing the photoelectric conversion layer, for example, drawing grooves can be formed by scanning the laser from a position corresponding to the starting point γ1 to a position corresponding to the ending point γ2 in the pattern display area DR according to the processing data. Therefore, by using the processing data, the processing of the photoelectric conversion layer for forming the display pattern 200 based on the target pattern 200T can be made easier.

[0256] The apparatus 1000 for creating processing data in this embodiment includes a control unit 1001 and a storage unit 1002, as shown in Figure 15. The storage unit 1002 stores first information, which includes first line spacing information (arrangement pitch dp2 in the example shown in Figure 11) indicating the intervals associated with the arrangement of a plurality of grooves (drawing grooves). The control unit 1001 performs the steps of: acquiring pattern data including information corresponding to a pattern (S10); and creating processing data based on the pattern data and the first information (S30). The processing data includes position information indicating the start point γ1 and end point γ2 of a plurality of lines 9p that are parallel to the X direction with intervals based on the first line spacing information.

[0257] Since the apparatus 1000 of this embodiment has the above configuration, it is possible to easily create processing data for the optical conversion layer based on pattern data. Because the apparatus 1000 creates processing data based on first information including line spacing information and pattern data, it is applicable to various target patterns. Furthermore, by using processing data including the above position information, it becomes possible to more easily form multiple drawing grooves of a predetermined length at predetermined positions in the photoelectric conversion layer, regardless of the complexity or size of the pattern.

[0258] According to this embodiment, the control unit 1001 further performs the step (S20) of creating drawing data. In the step (S20) of creating drawing data, the boundary line of the first drawing area (in the example shown in Figure 16E, the contour of the second portion d2) is identified based on the pattern data, and a plurality of parallel design lines 9a are placed in the first drawing area with intervals based on the first line spacing information. The drawing data includes the plurality of design lines 9a in the first drawing area. The drawing data may also include position information of the design lines 9a (for example, the coordinates of points β1 and β2 shown in Figure 16G). As shown in Figure 16H, the control unit 1001 performs the step of creating position information of a plurality of lines 9p in the processing data based on the position information of the plurality of design lines 9a in the drawing data. With this configuration, drawing data can be created by placing design lines 9a in the first drawing area identified based on the pattern data, making the creation of processing data even easier.

[0259] The boundary line defining the first drawing area may be, for example, an outline line identified from pattern data (e.g., an outline line shown on a target pattern, or an outline line obtained by image processing of a target pattern). Alternatively, the boundary line defining the first drawing area may be a dividing line (Figure 19A) indicating an area corresponding to the processing area of ​​the processing device, or a line identified by at least one of the above-mentioned outline line and dividing line.

[0260] According to this embodiment, the positional information indicating the start point γ1 and end point γ2 of each line 9p in the processing data is determined based on the intersection points β1 and β2 of each first design line 9a in the drawing data and the boundary line defining the first drawing area (for example, the second portion d2), as illustrated in Figure 16G. With this configuration, if the drawing data contains the positional information of the intersection points β1 and β2, processing data can be created even if it does not contain information indicating the boundary line of the first drawing area.

[0261] The first drawing area described above (for example, portion 412 shown in Figure 21A) corresponds to a region within the pattern display area DR of the photoelectric conversion layer in which grooves are formed in an arrangement associated with a plurality of first design lines 9a (for example, the second region r2 shown in Figure 21B). In this way, the arrangement of drawing grooves formed in the photoelectric conversion layer can be associated with the arrangement of the first design lines 9a of the drawing data.

[0262] According to this embodiment, as shown in Figures 19A to 19C, the control unit 1001 identifies dividing lines that divide the target pattern 200T or design line pattern 200D into multiple parts, and processing data is created for each pattern portion (e.g., divided region 401e) divided by the dividing lines. In the pattern portion divided by the dividing lines, the boundary line defining the first drawing region (e.g., portion d21) is defined by at least one of the contour line of the pattern identified based on the pattern data and the dividing line defining the pattern portion. With this configuration, processing data can be created that is applicable even when the processing region (scanning region) of the laser processing apparatus is smaller than the pattern display region DR.

[0263] According to this embodiment, the storage unit 1002 of the device 1000 further stores second information, which includes second line spacing information indicating the intervals associated with the arrangement of multiple grooves. The intervals in the second line spacing information are smaller than the intervals in the first line spacing information. The control unit 1001 creates processing data based on the pattern data, the first information, and the second information. As shown in Figure 16H, the processing data includes position information indicating the start point γ1 and end point γ2 of each of the multiple lines 9p that are parallel to the X direction with intervals based on the first line spacing information or the second line spacing information. With this configuration, by using the processing data, it is possible to form a display pattern 200 with three or more gradations, as illustrated in Figure 7, which includes drawing grooves and two or more regions r1, r2 with different brightness levels, and a dark region r3 that does not include drawing grooves.

[0264] The first line spacing information and the second line spacing information may be information indicating that the design lines 9 are arranged at equal intervals with predetermined spacings, as shown in Figure 11, for example. Alternatively, as will be described later, the design lines 9 may be arranged by repeating an arbitrary arrangement pattern (see Figure 26, described later). In this case, the line spacing information may include multiple different intervals and their order that constitute the arbitrary arrangement pattern.

[0265] In the processing data, as shown in Figure 16H, multiple lines 9p that are spaced apart and parallel to the X direction based on the second line spacing information include two adjacent lines that are spaced apart and parallel to the X direction based on the first line spacing information, and at least one line located between the two adjacent lines. In this way, by making some of the lines arranged based on the second line spacing information common with the lines arranged based on the first line spacing information, it is possible to form display figures with three or more grayscale levels while keeping the total number of lines 9p (i.e., the number of drawing grooves to be processed) low.

[0266] According to this embodiment, the control unit 1001 identifies boundary lines defining a first drawing area and a second drawing area based on pattern data, and further performs the step of creating drawing data including a plurality of first design lines in the first drawing area that are parallel to each other with intervals based on first line spacing information, and a plurality of second design lines in the second drawing area that are parallel to each other with intervals based on second line spacing information. Next, the control unit 1001 performs the step of creating position information for a plurality of lines (design lines for processing) of processing data based on the plurality of first design lines 9a and a plurality of second design lines 9a, 9b in the drawing data. At least one design line for processing is a line formed by connecting one of the first design lines and one of the second design lines at the boundary between the first drawing area and the second drawing area. With this configuration, the total number of design lines for processing is reduced, so that the position information (for example, the number of coordinates of the start and end points) included in the processing data can be reduced. Furthermore, since the number of drawing grooves (formation area) in the photoelectric conversion layer can be reduced, it is possible to express the desired gradation while maintaining high power generation performance.

[0267] The first line spacing information and the second line spacing information may be set such that the average array pitch of grooves in the second region r2, formed by the array associated with the first line spacing information, is greater than the average array pitch of grooves in the first region r1, formed by the array associated with the second line spacing information. With such a configuration, display figures expressed in multiple gradations can be formed by varying the array pitch of the drawing grooves.

[0268] Alternatively, the first line spacing information and the second line spacing information may be set such that the average width of the grooves in the second region r2 formed by the array associated with the first line spacing information is smaller than the average width of the grooves in the first region r1 formed by the array associated with the second line spacing information (see Figure 26, described later). With such a configuration, display figures expressed in multiple gradations can be formed by varying the width of the drawing grooves.

[0269] (Processing System) The processing data of this embodiment can be created using a laser processing system that includes a laser processing device and a control device.

[0270] Figure 29 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a laser processing system. As shown in Figure 29, the laser processing system 2000 comprises a device (control device) 1000 and a laser processing device 1100. The device 1000 is the same as the device 1000 described above with reference to Figure 15. The device 1000 and the laser processing device 1100 may be configured to communicate with each other. The device 1000 creates processing data in the manner described above. The laser processing device 1100 processes the photoelectric conversion layer based on the processing data created by the control unit 1001 of the device 1000, forming a plurality of drawing grooves. Processing the photoelectric conversion layer includes scanning the laser beam in one direction from a position corresponding to the start point to a position corresponding to the end point of a design line in a predetermined pattern display area DR of the photoelectric conversion layer.

[0271] 《Second Embodiment》 In the first embodiment described above (for example, Figure 5), multiple regions with different area ratios (aperture ratios) of the drawing grooves are provided in the photoelectric conversion layer by varying the arrangement pitch of the drawing grooves. In contrast, the second embodiment differs from the configuration of the first embodiment in that multiple regions with different aperture ratios are provided in the photoelectric conversion layer by varying the width of the drawing grooves.

[0272] Figure 22 is a top view illustrating a portion of the display pattern in the pattern display area DR, and also shows enlarged views of each area of ​​the display pattern. As shown in Figure 22, the display pattern 230 of the character's cuff portion is formed in the pattern display area DR by a plurality of drawing grooves 5. In the following, we will mainly explain the differences from the first embodiment (Figure 5), and will omit redundant explanations as appropriate.

[0273] In this embodiment as well, the pattern display area DR has a plurality of drawing grooves 5 arranged in a plan view. Each drawing groove 5 extends linearly along the X direction.

[0274] The display pattern 230 shown in Figure 22 has a first region r1 and a second region r2 in which drawing grooves 5 are arranged, and a third region r3 in which no drawing grooves 5 are arranged. In this example, the character's hands are in the first region r1, the clothes are in the second region r2, and the background and heart-shaped cookies are in the third region r3. The width w2 of the drawing grooves 5 in the first region r1 is greater than the width w1 of the drawing grooves 5 in the second region r2. This makes it possible to make the opening ratio of the first region r1 greater than the opening ratio of the second region r2. As shown in the figure, the arrangement pitch of the drawing grooves 5 in the first region r1 and the second region r2 may be designed to be the same.

[0275] In the example shown in Figure 22, at least one of the drawing grooves 5 (for example, groove 5k) extends from the first region r1 across the first boundary L1 to the second region r2. Groove 5k has a wide portion 55 that is wider in the Y direction and a narrow portion 56 that is narrower than the wide portion 55. Groove 5k is positioned such that the wide portion 55 is located in the first region r1 (hand) and the narrow portion 56 is located in the second region r2 (clothing portion). In this way, by partially narrowing the width of one drawing groove 5, it is possible to make the widths of the drawing grooves 5 in the first region r1 and the second region r2 different while aligning their positions in the Y direction.

[0276] In this embodiment, each drawing groove 5 has a common groove 5a that extends from a first region r1 across a first boundary L1 to a second region r2, and a dedicated groove 5b that extends from the first region r1 to the first boundary L1 and has one end 51b at the first boundary L1. The common groove 5a and the dedicated groove 5b are connected in the Y direction to constitute one drawing groove 5. Therefore, each drawing groove 5 can have a wide portion 55 composed of the common groove 5a and the dedicated groove 5b, and a narrow portion 56 that includes the common groove 5a but does not include the dedicated groove 5b.

[0277] As shown in Figure 22, in a plan view, a step 54 is formed on the side surface of a drawing groove (e.g., groove 5k) that extends across the first boundary L1 by the end 51b of the dedicated groove 5b. The step 54 is located on the first boundary L1. The first boundary L1 can be seen as an outline because the step 54 of the drawing groove 5k (i.e., the end 51b of the dedicated groove 5b) is arranged at intervals.

[0278] As shown in an enlarged view in Figure 22, in the first region r1, a wide section 55, composed of a common groove 5a and a dedicated groove 5b, is arranged in the Y direction with a distance v3 between them. The width w2 of the drawing groove 5 (width of the wide section 55) in the first region r1 is the sum of the width w1 of the common groove 5a and the width w3 of the dedicated groove 5b. For example, the ratio of width w2 to distance v3 is w2:v3 = 1:4, and the opening ratio is 20%. The width w2 of the wide section 55 is, for example, three times the width w1 of the common groove 5a.

[0279] On the other hand, in the second region r2, a narrow section 56 consisting only of a common groove 5a with width w1 is arranged in the Y direction at a distance v4. As an example, the ratio of the width of the drawing groove 5 (width of the common groove 5a) w1 to the distance v4 in the second region r2 is w1:v4 = 1:14, and the opening ratio of the second region r2 is 6.7%.

[0280] In Figure 22, the width w3 of the dedicated groove 5b is twice the width w1 of the common groove 5a, but the ratio of these widths is not particularly limited. The widths of the common groove 5a and the dedicated groove 5b can be adjusted, for example, by the number of laser scans (number of sub-grooves). Therefore, the aperture ratios of each region r1 and r2 are not particularly limited as long as they are less than or equal to the maximum aperture ratio M, and can be set as appropriate.

[0281] As shown in Table 5, in this embodiment as well, the pattern 230 can be represented in three gradations by the first region r1 of gradation 2, the second region r2 of gradation 1, and the third region r3 of gradation 0.

[0282]

[0283] In this embodiment of the photoelectric conversion device, the width w2 in the Y direction of the drawing groove 5 in the first region r1 is greater than the width w1 in the Y direction of the drawing groove 5 in the second region r2. With this configuration, the gradations of the two regions r1 and r2 can be easily made different. Furthermore, compared to the configuration of the first embodiment, the width of the power generation region located between the drawing grooves 5 can be increased when the aperture ratio is the same. Therefore, the influence of the formation of the drawing grooves 5 on power generation performance can be reduced. Moreover, compared to the configuration of the first embodiment, the number of inner surfaces 5s1 and 5s2 of the drawing grooves 5 can be reduced when the aperture ratio is the same. Therefore, the total area of ​​the photoelectric conversion layer exposed on the inner surfaces 5s1 and 5s2 of the drawing grooves 5 can be reduced, thus reducing the damage to the photoelectric conversion layer 32 caused by the formation of the drawing grooves.

[0284] In this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the filler material 7 is also placed inside the drawing groove 5 (see Figure 8I). With this configuration, the photoelectric conversion layer exposed on the inner surfaces 5s1 and 5s2 of the drawing groove 5 can be protected. Since the filler material 7 is translucent, it does not hinder the visibility of the surface pattern. Furthermore, because the filler material 7 is translucent, it becomes possible to make the photoelectric conversion device 100 function as a double-sided light-receiving module.

[0285] According to this embodiment, at least one groove 5k of the plurality of drawing grooves 5 has a step 54 in plan view at the first boundary L1, which makes the width w2 of the first region r1 larger than the width w1 of the second region r2. The step 54 is formed by the end of the dedicated groove 5b. With this configuration, the design and processing of the drawing grooves 5 are made easier by the common groove 5a, and the first boundary L1 can be represented (made visible) by the arrangement of the steps 54.

[0286] The photoelectric converter of this embodiment can also be manufactured in the same manner as the first embodiment. Furthermore, processing data can be created in the same manner as the first embodiment. However, in this embodiment, the design line pattern formed to determine the groove information differs from that of the first embodiment.

[0287] (Method for creating processing data) [Creation of groove information] In this embodiment as well, groove information (design line pattern) is created in the same manner as described above, referring to Figure 9. Figures 23A to 23C show the method for forming the design line pattern in this embodiment. Below, we will mainly explain the differences from the first embodiment, and omit redundant explanations as appropriate.

[0288] <S1: Determination of design rules> Similar to the first embodiment, the maximum aperture ratio M and the number of grayscale levels N are determined. Here, the maximum aperture ratio M is set to 20% and the number of grayscale levels N is set to 3.

[0289] <S2: Determination of Basic Unit> As shown in Figure 23A, the basic unit U is determined based on the maximum aperture ratio M. In this example, the basic unit U is the same as in the first embodiment and consists of a design line 9 with width dw and a space 10 with width dv1. The ratio of the line width dw to the space width dv1 is set to dw:dv1 = 1:4 so that the area ratio of the design line 9 is 20%.

[0290] <S3: Determination of design line pattern> Next, in a basic pattern in which multiple basic units U are arranged in the Y direction, a portion of the design lines 9 are designated as common design lines 9a, and the remaining design lines are designated as dedicated design lines 9b. As an example, multiple (in this case, two) basic units U arranged in the Y direction may be considered as one set, and a portion of the design lines from each set may be designated as common design lines 9a, and the remaining design lines as dedicated design lines 9b. The common design lines 9a are the design lines corresponding to the common groove 5a shown in Figure 22, and the dedicated design lines 9b are the design lines corresponding to the dedicated groove 5b shown in Figure 22.

[0291] Next, as shown in Figure 23B, the dedicated design line 9b in the basic pattern is moved in the Y direction so as to be tangent to the common design line 9a, forming a single wide line 90. The wide line 90 has the sum of the widths of the common design line 9a and the dedicated design line 9b. In this way, a first design line pattern PT1 in which the wide lines 90 are arranged is obtained (S4). In the first design line pattern PT1, wide lines 90 with line width dw1 (= dw × 2) are arranged in the Y direction with a distance dv1 between them. In this example, dw1:dv1 = 1:4, and the area ratio R1 of the design line 9 is 20%.

[0292] Next, as shown in Figure 23C, the dedicated design line 9b is removed from the first design line pattern PT1 in Figure 23B to form the second design line pattern PT2 (S5). In the second design line pattern PT2, common design lines 9a with line width dw2 (<dw1) are arranged with a distance dv2 in the Y direction. In this example, dw2:dv2 = 1:9, and the area ratio R2 of the design lines 9 is 10%.

[0293] In this embodiment as well, the first design line pattern PT1 is used to represent a bright first tone (tone 2), and the second design line pattern PT2 is used to represent a second tone (tone 1) that is darker than the first design line pattern PT1. A black pattern (tone 0) without design lines may also be used.

[0294] - Modification 3 of the design line pattern Figure 24 shows modification 3 of the design line pattern.

[0295] In the third modified example, three basic units U arranged in the Y direction in the basic pattern are treated as a set, and two design lines 9 from each set of basic units U are designated as dedicated design lines 9b1 and 9b2, while the remaining design line 9 is designated as a common design line 9a.

[0296] Next, as shown in Figure 24, the two dedicated design lines 9b1 and 9b2 of each pair are moved in the Y direction to the common design line 9a to form a wide line 90. The wide line 90 has the sum of the widths of the dedicated design lines 9b1 and 9b2 and the common design line 9a. In this way, a first design line pattern PT1 is obtained in which wide lines 90 with line width dw1 (= dw × 3) are arranged in the Y direction with a distance dv1 between them. In this example, dw1:dv1 = 1:4, and the area ratio R1 of the design line 9 is 20%.

[0297] Next, the dedicated design lines 9b1 and 9b2 are removed from the first design line pattern PT1. This creates a second design line pattern PT2 in which the common design line 9a is arranged in the Y direction with a distance dv2 between them. In this example, dw2:dv2 = 1:14, and the area ratio R2 of the design line 9 is approximately 6.7%.

[0298] In this modified example, the first design line pattern PT1 is used to represent the brightest gradation 2, the second design line pattern PT2 is used to represent the intermediate gradation 1, and the black pattern PTb is used to represent the darkest gradation 0.

[0299] ・4 Modified Design Line Patterns In this embodiment as well, by varying the number of design lines removed from the first design line pattern PT1, two or more design line patterns showing intermediate colors can be formed.

[0300] Figure 25 shows a modified example 4 of the design line pattern. Modified example 4 differs from modified example 3 in that it uses four design line patterns to achieve four grayscale levels (N=4).

[0301] The first design line pattern PT1 shown in Figure 25 is the same as the first design line pattern PT1 in Modification 3 (Figure 24).

[0302] In this modified example, a wide line 91 is formed by removing only one of the dedicated design lines (in this case, the dedicated design line 9b2) from the first design line pattern PT1. The wide line 91 has a total width dw2 of the common design line 9a and the dedicated design line 9b1. In this way, the wide lines 91 are arranged in the Y direction with a distance dv2 between them to obtain the second design line pattern PT2. In this example, dw2:dv2 = 2:13, and the area ratio R2 of the design line 9 is approximately 13.3%.

[0303] Furthermore, both dedicated design lines 9b1 and 9b2 are removed from the first design line pattern PT1. As a result, the common design line 9a forms the third design line pattern PT3, which is arranged in the Y direction with a distance dv3 between them. In this example, dw3:dv3 = 1:14, and the area ratio R2 of the design line 9 is approximately 6.7%.

[0304] In modified example 4, the first design line pattern PT1 is used to represent the brightest gradation 3, the second design line pattern PT2 is used to represent the intermediate gradation 2, the third design line pattern PT3 is used to represent the intermediate gradation 1, and the black pattern PTb is used to represent the darkest gradation 0.

[0305] In this embodiment, the first design line pattern PT1 is a pattern in which a wide line 90 composed of two or more design lines 9a and 9b is arranged at a distance from each other in the Y direction, and the second design line pattern PT2 is a pattern in which some of the design lines 9b of the two or more design lines that make up the wide line 90 are removed. By creating drawing data using such a pattern, it becomes easier to process the photoelectric conversion layer to form drawing grooves with different line widths in each region.

[0306] Note that each design line pattern is not limited to the examples shown in Figures 23 to 25. For example, the first design line pattern PT1 may include design lines of width dw (common design lines or dedicated design lines) in addition to wide lines. Also, the method of forming the design line pattern is not limited to the above. For example, if the maximum aperture ratio M is sufficiently large, the basic pattern may be used as the first design line pattern PT1, and the second design line pattern PT2 may be formed by narrowing the width of each design line in the first design line pattern PT1.

[0307] <Groove Information> In this embodiment as well, groove information including positional information of the start and end points of the design lines is constructed based on the design line patterns (first design line pattern PT1, second design line pattern PT2) determined by the above process. The black pattern PTb may or may not be included in the groove information. Furthermore, each piece of groove information may include the area ratio and line width of the design line 900, and may be linked to information indicating gradation (first gradation information).

[0308] The design line patterns shown in Figures 23 to 25 are design line patterns with width information, but they may also be design line patterns without width information.

[0309] Figure 26 is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of groove information.

[0310] In Figure 26, the design lines PT1 and PT2 use design lines with no width, namely 900a, 900b1, and 900b2. The design lines with no width, namely 900a, 900b1, and 900b2 (collectively referred to as "design line 900"), correspond to the upper edges (or lower edges, or center lines) of the design lines 9a, 9b1, and 9b2 with width shown in Figure 24, respectively.

[0311] In the example shown in Figure 26, the groove information includes two groove information items corresponding to the design line patterns PT1 and PT2, respectively.

[0312] The groove information corresponding to the design line pattern PT1 includes line spacing information 910. In the design line pattern PT1, the design lines 900 are arranged by repeating the unit arrangement pattern 901. Therefore, the line spacing information 910 is information indicating the spacing in the unit arrangement pattern 901. Specifically, the line spacing information 910 indicates that the design lines 900 are arranged with spacings ds11, ds12, and ds13 in that order.

[0313] On the other hand, the groove information corresponding to the design line pattern PT2 includes line spacing information 920. The line spacing information 920 indicates that the design lines 900 are arranged at equal intervals with a spacing ds2 between them. In other words, the line spacing information 920 is information indicating the arrangement pitch.

[0314] [Creation of machining data] In this embodiment as well, based on the groove information determined by the method described above, machining data can be created by referring to Figure 14 and following the steps S10 to S30 described above.

[0315] Next, an example of the method for creating drawing data in this embodiment will be described.

[0316] (Example 3) In Example 3, the groove information shown in Figure 24 is stored in the storage unit 1002 in advance. Also, the target pattern of the cuff portion of the character, similar to that in Example 1 (Figure 20A), is taken in as pattern data.

[0317] In this embodiment, as in Embodiment 1, the outline of the target pattern is recognized, and the parts of the hand, clothing, background, and cookie are identified. Next, the first design line pattern PT1 is assigned to the hand part 411, the second design line pattern PT2 to the clothing part 412, and the black pattern PTb to the background and cookie parts 413. Subsequently, design lines are placed on each part 411 to 413 of the target pattern along the assigned design line patterns. In this way, the design line pattern 230D shown in Figure 27A is obtained. After this, drawing data is obtained based on the design line pattern 230D. The drawing data includes at least the coordinates of the intersection points between the boundary lines of each part d1 to d3 in the design line pattern 230D and the design line 9.

[0318] Next, processing data is created based on the design line pattern 230D. After this, laser processing is performed according to the processing data, similar to Example 1, to form a common groove 5a at a position corresponding to the common design line 9a in the power generation layer, and a dedicated groove 5b at a position corresponding to the dedicated design line 9b.

[0319] In this way, as shown in Figure 27B, a display pattern 230 can be formed using multiple drawing grooves 5. The character's hand portion is a bright (gradation 2) first region r1, the clothing portion is a medium brightness (gradation 1) second region r2, and the background and cookie portion is a dark (gradation 0) third region r3. Furthermore, in this embodiment, by setting the width of the drawing grooves 5 to be equal to or greater than the intervals ds11 and ds12 shown in Figure 26 and processing the drawing grooves 5, a wide line 90 composed of three design lines 900 can be formed.

[0320] (Example 4) Example 4 differs from Example 3 in that it displays the pattern using four grayscale levels (N=4). Figure 28A shows the design line pattern of Example 4. Figure 28B shows the display pattern formed based on the design line pattern of Figure 28A.

[0321] In Example 4, the maximum aperture ratio M is set to 20%. The number of grayscale levels N is set to 4, and groove information corresponding to the first design line pattern PT1 to the third design line pattern PT3 and the black pattern PTb shown in Figure 25 is used.

[0322] In this embodiment as well, the outlines of the character's clothing and hands are recognized and design line patterns are assigned in the same manner as in Embodiment 3. Here, the first design line pattern PT1 (3 gradations) is assigned to the hand portion 411, the second design line pattern PT2 (2 gradations) to the clothing pattern portion 414, the third design line pattern PT3 (1 gradation) to the clothing portion 412, and the black pattern PTb (0 gradations) to the background and cookie portion 413. After this, design lines 9 are placed on each portion 411 to 414. In this way, the design line pattern 240D shown in Figure 28A is formed. After this, drawing data is obtained based on the design line pattern 240D.

[0323] For the arrangement of the design lines 9, one example may be to use a first pattern consisting of common design lines 9a (for example, Figure 17A), a second pattern consisting only of dedicated design lines 9b1, and a third pattern consisting only of dedicated design lines 9b2 (see, for example, Figure 17B). Alternatively, a pattern including all design lines (for example, Figure 18A) may be used to form a wide line 90 across the entire drawing area, and then unnecessary parts may be deleted.

[0324] The patterned area 414 has a wide line 91 consisting of a common design line 9a and a dedicated design line 9b1. The common design line 9a extends from the patterned area 414 to the garment area 412 and the hand area 411. Only the common design line 9a is present in the garment area 412, and there are no dedicated design lines. Therefore, the patterned area 414 has a larger area ratio of design lines than the garment area 412 due to the absence of the dedicated design line 9b1 (it appears brighter after grooving). The hand area 411 has a wide line 90 consisting of the common design line 9a and two dedicated design lines 9b1 and 9b2. Therefore, after grooving, the hand area 411 appears even brighter than the patterned area 414.

[0325] One of the dedicated design lines 9b1 of the patterned section 414 and one of the dedicated design lines 9b1 of the hand section 411 are in the same position in the Y direction. Therefore, it appears as if the dedicated design line 9b1 jumps over the clothing section 412 and connects to the dedicated design line 9b1 of the hand section 411.

[0326] Next, processing data is created based on the design line pattern 240D in Figure 28A, and this data is used to perform laser processing on the power generation layer. In this way, a display pattern 240 showing the character's clothes and hands is formed, as shown in Figure 28B. In the display pattern 240, the hands are in a bright (3-tone) first region r1, the pattern of the clothes is in a second region r2 (2-tone), the parts other than the pattern of the clothes are in a third region r3 (1-tone), which is darker than the pattern, and the background and cookies are in a dark (0-tone) fourth region r4. In Figure 28B, the virtual boundary L3 (outline of the pattern) between the second region r2 and the first region r1 is shown as a solid line.

[0327] This disclosure is not limited to the embodiments and examples described above, and design modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of this disclosure. Furthermore, by appropriately combining the configurations of any embodiment among the various embodiments illustrated (including modifications), the effects of each can be achieved.

[0328] [Outline of Embodiments] [Item 1] An apparatus for creating processing data for a plurality of grooves that penetrate the photoelectric conversion layer in the thickness direction, so that a pattern is displayed in a predetermined area of ​​the photoelectric conversion layer in a plan view along the thickness direction, comprising: a storage unit and a control unit, wherein the storage unit stores first information including first line spacing information indicating the spacing associated with the arrangement of the plurality of grooves, the control unit performs the steps of: acquiring pattern data including information corresponding to the pattern, and creating the processing data based on the pattern data and the first information, and the processing data includes position information indicating the start and end points of each of a plurality of lines that are parallel to a first direction with spacing based on the first line spacing information. [Item 2] The apparatus according to Item 1, wherein the control unit further performs the steps of identifying a boundary line defining a first drawing area based on the pattern data, creating drawing data including a plurality of first design lines in the first drawing area that are parallel to each other and spaced apart based on the first line spacing information, and creating position information indicating the start and end points of each line in the processing data based on the plurality of first design lines in the drawing data. [Item 3] The apparatus according to Item 2, wherein the control unit identifies the outline of a pattern based on the pattern data, identifies dividing lines that divide the pattern based on the pattern data into a plurality of parts, identifies a boundary line defining a first drawing area as at least one of the outline of the pattern and the dividing lines, and creates the processing data for each part of the pattern divided by the dividing lines. [Item 4] The apparatus according to Item 2 or 3, wherein the position information indicating the start and end points of each line in the processing data is identified based on the intersection of each first design line in the drawing data and the boundary line defining the first drawing area. [Item 5] The apparatus according to any one of Items 2 to 4, wherein the first drawing area corresponds to a first area in the predetermined area of ​​the photoelectric conversion layer in which grooves are formed in an arrangement associated with the plurality of first design lines.[Item 6] The apparatus according to Item 5, wherein the boundary line defining the first drawing area is identified in the predetermined area of ​​the photoelectric conversion layer as a contour line corresponding to the boundary between the first area and an area adjacent to the first area and having a different area ratio of the plurality of grooves from the first area, based on the pattern data. [Item 7] The apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 6, wherein the storage unit further stores second information including second line spacing information indicating the intervals associated with the arrangement of the plurality of grooves, the intervals in the second line spacing information being smaller than the intervals in the first line spacing information, the control unit creates the processing data based on the pattern data, the first information and the second information, and the processing data includes position information indicating the start and end points of each of a plurality of lines that are parallel to the first direction with intervals based on the first line spacing information or the second line spacing information. [Item 8] The apparatus according to Item 7, wherein the plurality of lines parallel to the first direction with spacing based on the second line spacing information includes two adjacent lines parallel to the first direction with spacing based on the first line spacing information, and at least one line located between the two adjacent lines. [Item 9] The apparatus according to Item 7 or 8, wherein the control unit identifies a boundary line defining a first drawing area and a second drawing area based on the pattern data, and further performs the step of creating drawing data including a plurality of first design lines in the first drawing area that are parallel to each other with spacing based on the first line spacing information and a plurality of second design lines in the second drawing area that are parallel to each other with spacing based on the second line spacing information, and based on the plurality of first design lines and the plurality of second design lines in the drawing data, and at least one of the plurality of lines that are parallel to the first direction with spacing based on the first line spacing information is a line formed by connecting one of the plurality of first design lines and one of the plurality of second design lines at the boundary between the first drawing area and the second drawing area.[Item 10] The apparatus according to any one of items 7 to 9, wherein the first line spacing information and the second line spacing information are set such that the average array pitch of grooves in the region of the photoelectric conversion layer in which grooves are formed in an array associated with the first line spacing information is greater than the average array pitch of grooves in the region of the photoelectric conversion layer in which grooves are formed in an array associated with the second line spacing information. [Item 11] The apparatus according to any one of items 7 to 9, wherein the first line spacing information and the second line spacing information are set such that the average width of grooves in the region of the photoelectric conversion layer in which grooves are formed in an array associated with the first line spacing information is smaller than the average width of grooves in the region of the photoelectric conversion layer in which grooves are formed in an array associated with the second line spacing information. [Item 12] A method for creating processing data for a plurality of grooves that penetrate the photoelectric conversion layer in the thickness direction, so that a pattern is displayed in a predetermined area of ​​the photoelectric conversion layer in a plan view along the thickness direction, comprising the steps of: taking in pattern data including information corresponding to the pattern; and creating the processing data based on the pattern data and first information including first line spacing information indicating the spacing associated with the arrangement of the plurality of grooves, wherein the processing data includes position information indicating the start and end points of each of a plurality of lines that are parallel to a first direction with spacing based on the first line spacing information.[Item 13] A laser processing system for processing a plurality of grooves that penetrate the photoelectric conversion layer in the thickness direction, so that a pattern is displayed in a predetermined area of ​​the photoelectric conversion layer in a plan view along the thickness direction, wherein the laser processing system comprises a laser processing device and a control device, the control device comprises a storage unit and a control unit, the storage unit stores first information including first line spacing information indicating the spacing associated with the arrangement of the plurality of grooves, the control unit performs the steps of: acquiring pattern data including information corresponding to the pattern, and creating processing data based on the pattern data and the first information, the processing data includes position information indicating the start and end points of each of a plurality of lines that are parallel to a first direction with spacing based on the first line spacing information, and the laser processing device processes the photoelectric conversion layer based on the processing data. [Item 14] The laser processing system according to Item 13, wherein the processing of the photoelectric conversion layer includes scanning a laser beam along a first direction in the predetermined region of the photoelectric conversion layer from a position corresponding to the starting point of each of the plurality of lines to a position corresponding to the ending point. [Item 15] A program for causing a computer to perform the method described in Item 12.

[0329] The apparatus, method, and laser processing system for creating processing data for a photoelectric conversion layer according to this disclosure are useful because they allow for easy processing to display patterns on the photoelectric conversion layer. For example, they can enhance the design of photoelectric conversion devices applied to building materials.

[0330] 1. First substrate 1a, 2a Main surface 2. Second substrate 3. Power generation section 4A, 4B Extraction electrodes 5, 5c-5k Drawing groove 5a Common groove 5b Dedicated groove 5s1, 5s2 Inner surface 5t1, 5t2 Inner end surface 6. Sealing member 7. Filler material 8. Solar cell 9. Design line 9a Common design line 9b, 9b1, 9b2 Dedicated design line 10. Space 30. Power generation layer 31. Lower electrode layer 32. Photoelectric conversion layer 33. Upper electrode layer 34. n-type semiconductor layer 35. p-type semiconductor layer 50. Sub-grooves 51, 52, 52c, 52d End 53. Bottom surface 54. Step 55. Wide section 56. Narrow section 81, 82. Separation groove 90, 91. Wide line 100. Photoelectric conversion device 200, 210, 230, 240 Display pattern 200D, 210D, 230D, 240D, 400D Design line pattern 200T, 400T Target pattern 411 Hand part 412 Clothing part 413 Background part, cookie part 414 Pattern part 420 First pattern 430 Second pattern 440 Pattern 501-505, 511-514 Opening 900, 900a, 900b1, 900b2 (No width) Design line 910, 920 Line spacing information d1-d3 First part-Third part DR Pattern display area dv1, dv2, dv3 Space width dw Line width ds1, ds11, ds12, ds13, ds2 Spacing L1 First boundary L2 Second boundary L3 Third boundary PT1 First design line pattern PT2 Second design line pattern PT3 Third design line pattern PTb Black pattern PV Photoelectric conversion section r1-r4 First to fourth regions U, U1, U2, U3 Basic unit LE Lower electrode UE Upper electrode v1, v2, v3, v4 Distance between drawing grooves w1, w2, w3 Width of drawing grooves α1, β1, γ1 Starting point α2, β2, γ2 Ending point

Claims

A device for creating processing data for a plurality of grooves that penetrate the photoelectric conversion layer in the thickness direction, so that a pattern can be displayed in a predetermined area of ​​the photoelectric conversion layer in a plan view along the thickness direction, It comprises a memory unit and a control unit, The storage unit stores first information including first line spacing information that indicates the spacing associated with the arrangement of the plurality of grooves, The control unit, A step of importing pattern data that includes information corresponding to the aforementioned pattern, The steps of creating the processing data based on the pattern data and the first information are performed, The apparatus includes positional information indicating the start and end points of a plurality of lines that are parallel to the first direction and spaced apart based on the first line spacing information, wherein the processing data includes positional information indicating the start and end points of each line. 　 The control unit, The process further involves identifying a boundary line defining a first drawing area based on the aforementioned pattern data, and creating drawing data that includes a plurality of first design lines in the first drawing area that are parallel to each other and spaced apart based on the first line spacing information. Based on the plurality of first design lines in the drawing data, the step of creating positional information indicating the start and end points of each line in the processing data is performed. The apparatus according to claim 1. 　 The control unit, Based on the aforementioned pattern data, the outline of the pattern is identified. Based on the aforementioned pattern data, a dividing line is identified that divides the pattern into multiple parts. The boundary line defining the first drawing area is identified by at least one of the outline of the design and the dividing line, The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the processing data is created for each of the pattern portions divided by the dividing line. 　 The positional information indicating the start and end points of each line in the processing data is determined based on the intersection points of each first design line and the boundary line defining the first drawing area in the drawing data. The apparatus according to claim 2 or 3. 　 The first drawing region corresponds to a first region within the predetermined region of the photoelectric conversion layer in which grooves are formed in an arrangement associated with the plurality of first design lines, The apparatus according to claim 2 or 3. 　 The boundary line defining the first drawing area is identified based on the pattern data as an outline line corresponding to the boundary between the first area and an area adjacent to the first area and having a different area ratio of the plurality of grooves from the first area, in the predetermined area of ​​the photoelectric conversion layer. The apparatus according to claim 5. 　 The storage unit further stores second information, which includes second line spacing information indicating the spacing associated with the arrangement of the plurality of grooves, wherein the spacing in the second line spacing information is smaller than the spacing in the first line spacing information. The control unit creates the processing data based on the pattern data, the first information, and the second information. The processing data includes position information indicating the start and end points of each of a plurality of lines that are parallel to the first direction at intervals based on the first line spacing information or the second line spacing information. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 　 The plurality of lines parallel to the first direction with spacings based on the second line spacing information include two adjacent lines parallel to the first direction with spacings based on the first line spacing information, and at least one line located between the two adjacent lines. The apparatus according to claim 7. 　 The control unit, Based on the aforementioned pattern data, the boundary lines defining the first drawing area and the second drawing area are identified. The steps of creating drawing data including a plurality of first design lines in the first drawing area that are parallel to each other with spacing based on the first line spacing information, and a plurality of second design lines in the second drawing area that are parallel to each other with spacing based on the second line spacing information are further performed. Based on the plurality of first design lines and the plurality of second design lines in the drawing data, the step of creating position information for a plurality of lines in the processing data that are parallel to the first direction with intervals based on the first line spacing information or the second line spacing information is performed. At least one of a plurality of lines that are parallel to the first direction with intervals based on the first line spacing information is a line formed by connecting one of the plurality of first design lines and one of the plurality of second design lines at the boundary between the first drawing area and the second drawing area. The apparatus according to claim 7. 　 The first line spacing information and the second line spacing information are, The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein, among the predetermined regions of the photoelectric conversion layer, the average arrangement pitch of grooves in the region where grooves are formed in an arrangement associated with the first line spacing information is set to be greater than the average arrangement pitch of grooves in the region where grooves are formed in an arrangement associated with the second line spacing information. 　 The first line spacing information and the second line spacing information are, The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the average width of grooves in the region of the photoelectric conversion layer in which grooves are formed in an arrangement associated with the first line spacing information is set to be smaller than the average width of grooves in the region in which grooves are formed in an arrangement associated with the second line spacing information. A method for creating processing data for a plurality of grooves that penetrate the photoelectric conversion layer in the thickness direction, so that a pattern can be displayed in a predetermined area of ​​the photoelectric conversion layer in a plan view along the thickness direction, A step of importing pattern data that includes information corresponding to the aforementioned pattern, The process includes the step of creating the processing data based on the pattern data and first information including first line spacing information indicating the spacing associated with the arrangement of the plurality of grooves, The processing data includes positional information indicating the start and end points of each of a plurality of lines that are parallel to the first direction at intervals based on the first line spacing information. 　 A laser processing system for processing a plurality of grooves that penetrate the photoelectric conversion layer in the thickness direction, thereby displaying a pattern in a predetermined area of ​​the photoelectric conversion layer in a plan view along the thickness direction, The laser processing system comprises a laser processing device and a control device. The control device comprises a storage unit and a control unit, The storage unit stores first information including first line spacing information that indicates the spacing associated with the arrangement of the plurality of grooves, The control unit, A step of importing pattern data that includes information corresponding to the aforementioned pattern, The steps of creating processing data based on the aforementioned pattern data and the first information are performed, The processing data includes position information indicating the start and end points of each of a plurality of lines that are parallel to the first direction at intervals based on the first line spacing information, The laser processing apparatus performs processing of the photoelectric conversion layer based on the processing data. Laser processing system. 　 The processing of the photoelectric conversion layer includes scanning a laser beam along a first direction in the predetermined region of the photoelectric conversion layer from a position corresponding to the starting point of each of the plurality of lines to a position corresponding to the ending point. The laser processing system according to claim 13.

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