PRESS RELEASE
Applied Films sells worldwide first sputtering system
for solar cell production
Alzenau, February 10, 2005
Applied Films announced today the first sale of one of its solar cell production systems. The cus-tomer will use the system to deposit passivating Silicon Nitride (SiN:H) anti-reflection (AR) layers for multicrystalline solar cells. Shipment of the system is projected for Q 2 of 2005, production will start in September 2005. With the new system, the manufac-turing capacity of the customer will be expanded significantly.
Prior to the decision for the Applied Films system the customer thoroughly screened the market for production systems. It took nearly six months before the final decision for Applied Films had been taken. The companies background, expertise for vacuum process equipment and financials were analyzed diligently. With the ATON 1600 system the whole fab can achieve a much higher productivity.
The ATON system is the worldwide first In-line sputtering system for solar cell production and has been successfully introduced to the market one year ago. Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) – or sputtering – offers many advantages for solar cell production. PVD is a clean technology, which avoids the use of hazardous process gases. Compatible for thin wafer handling and equipped with large area compatibility the ATON system accommodates all wafer sizes. With a continuous operation time of five to ten days it is superior all other currently commercially available solar cell production technologies.
The ATON process technology has been developed in close co-operation with the renowned Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy (ISE) in Freiburg (Germany). Efficiencies of more than 15% were achieved with sputtered silicon nitride layer – this result is equiva-lent to the best values achieved with the commonly used PECVD technology so far. AR-SiN:H-layers deposited by sputtering show a very high uniformity of thickness and index of refraction, both substantial to achieve an uniform optical appearance. The homo-geneity of the sputter process is better than +/- 3% even on large areas. In addition to the good layer uniformity, the ATON series features high dynamic deposition rates of about 45 nm*m/min per cathode. With a configuration of two cathodes, high throughputs of up to 5,000 wafers of a size of 125x125 mm per hour (correspond-ing to ~100MWp/year) can be achieved.
“We are pleased to see the solar industry endorse our ATON sys-tem and our technology”, stated Thomas T. Edman, CEO of Ap-plied Films. “Following our continued investment in this industry, we have successfully rolled out a high volume production platform for the Photovoltaics market, which we anticipate will be an excit-ing growth engine for us for years to come.”
About Applied Films
Applied Films is a leading provider of thin film deposition equipment to diverse markets such as the flat panel display, the architectural, automo-tive and solar glass, and the consumer products packaging and electron-ics industries. For more information, please visit our web site at www.appliedfilms.com
Contact:
Applied Films
Michael Treutel
Manager Marketing and Communication
Siemensstrasse 100
63755 Alzenau
Tel.: +49 (0)6023 - 92 65 65
Fax: +49 (0)6023 - 92 66 80
E-Mail: mtreutel@eu.appliedfilms.com
Website: www.appliedfilms.com