| 摘要 |
<p>An upstream or predeposition cathode system for use with glow discharge deposition apparatus, said apparatus adapted for the continuous production of large area photovoltaic devices. In such apparatus, process gases are commonly introduced into a deposition chamber from a gas manifold disposed upstream of a substrate. As the process gases are drawn across the surface of the substrate, they are disassociated and recombined under the influence of an electromagnetic field developed by a deposition cathode or microwave generator. By providing a precathode system upstream of the deposition cathode or microwave generator, (1) impurities in the process gases, (2) contaminants from the walls of the deposition chamber and (3) initially disassociated and recombined process gas compositions may be deposited onto and collected from a collection plate disposed upstream of the substrate. In this manner, the process gases subjected to the upstream electromagnetic field are more easily broken down by the deposition cathode and deposited onto the substrate in desired chemical combinations and compositions so as to provide improved electrical, chemical and optical properties. Also disclosed herein is the use of such a precathode assembly to aid in the high speed deposition of homogeneous, amorphous, powder-free semiconductor material of uniform thickness across the entire width of the substrate.</p> |
