Method and apparatus for thin film module with dotted interconnects and vias

摘要

A method to fabricate monolithically-integrated optoelectronic module apparatuses (100) comprising at least two series-interconnected optoelectronic components (104, 106, 108). The method includes deposition and scribing on an insulating substrate or superstate (110) of a 3-layer stack in order (a, b, c) or (c, b, a) comprising: (a) back-contact electrodes (122, 124, 126, 128), (b) semiconductive layer (130), and (c) front-contact components (152, 154, 156, 158). Via holes (153, 155, 157) are drilled so that heat of the drilling process causes a metallization at the surface of said via holes that renders conductive the semi-conductive layer's surface (132, 134, 136, 138) of said via holes, thereby establishing series-interconnecting electrical paths between optoelectronic components (104, 106, 108) by connecting first front-contact components (154, 156) to second back-contact electrodes (124, 126).

主权项

1. A method of fabricating monolithically-integrated optoelectronic modules comprising at least two series-interconnected optoelectronic components, comprising the steps of:
cutting at least one continuous back-contact groove into a back-contact layer, wherein cutting the at least one continuous back-contact groove forms at least one first and at least one second back-contact component that are electrically disconnected from each other; cutting at least one continuous front-contact groove into a front-contact layer to form at least one first and at least one second front-contact components that are electrically disconnected from each other, and wherein at least a portion of the at least one first or the at least one second front-contact components overlap with the at least one second or first back contact components, respectively; forming at least one semiconductive layer that comprises at least one semiconductive optoelectronically active layer, wherein a portion of the at least one semiconductive layer is disposed between the front-contact layer and the back-contact layer, and the semiconductive optoelectronically active layer comprises a CIGS-type ABC2 material, where A comprises copper, B comprises indium and gallium, and C comprises selenium; and drilling at least one cell-to-cell via hole, wherein the drilling the at least one cell-to-cell via hole and the cutting the at least one continuous front-contact groove are performed after the front contact layer, the semiconductive layer and the back contact layer are formed, and wherein heat provided in the drilling process causes:
a removal of a portion of the front-contact layer and a portion of the at least one semiconductive layer to form the cell-to-cell via hole, wherein a portion of the back contact layer is exposed in the formed cell-to-cell via hole; anda permanent change in the chemical composition of the surface of the semiconductive layer(s) in the cell-to-cell via hole, wherein an electrically conductive permanently metalized copper-rich CIGS-type ABC2 material forms on the surface of the cell-to-cell via hole during the removal of the portion of the at least one semiconductive layer, andthereby forming an electrically conductive path on the surface of the via hole, between at least one of the first front-contact components and at least one second back-contact component, thereby forming the at least two series-interconnected optoelectronic components.