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Laser-Induced Surface Modification for Photovoltaic Device Applications

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Handbook of Laser Micro- and Nano-Engineering

Abstract

High-power lasers are extensively used for the fabrication of photovoltaic devices, medical devices, electronics and MEMS packaging, photonic device integration, consumer electronic devices such as smartphones, organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), and semiconductor devices and in the area of printed circuit boards. In the area of photovoltaic device fabrication, lasers are used for microtexturing of surfaces to improve light-trapping properties, laser doping to make n- and p-type semiconductors, electrical contacts, electrical isolation, sintering of micro-/nanoparticles for thin-film fabrication, laser drilling, laser welding, laser annealing, and direct writing in photoresist. A large number of device applications of high-power lasers are due to the ability to perform microscale processes without physical contact. The examples of laser processing for photovoltaic device fabrication applications are provided. Some of the described laser processes are currently used in industrial manufacturing applications, and new processes are being developed to provide a low-cost manufacturing solution.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to the NSF Industry University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) for Laser and Plasma for Advanced Manufacturing program for their support. The NSF support under the Award No. ECCS-1408443 and award No. CMMI-1436775 is acknowledged. Thanks to the NASA Langley Professor Program for their support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Mool C. Gupta

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  1. Mool C. Gupta
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Correspondence to Mool C. Gupta .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. RIKEN Center for Advanced Photonics, Wako, Saitama, Japan

    Koji Sugioka

Section Editor information

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, P.R. China

    Minlin Zhong

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Gupta, M.C. (2021). Laser-Induced Surface Modification for Photovoltaic Device Applications. In: Sugioka, K. (eds) Handbook of Laser Micro- and Nano-Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63647-0_16

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