A new cluster tool for EMIL
A cluster tool for the research on new classes of materials and device structures for photovoltaic and photocatalysis applications. (Source: Altatech)
The Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB) and Altatech, a subsidiary of Soitec, have launched a collaborative partnership to research and develop materials for the next generation of high-efficiency solar cells, including new classes of materials and innovative device structures for photovoltaic and photocatalysis applications.
As part of the organizations’ joint effort, Altatech will install a new single-substrate multi-chamber solution, an AltaCVD system, at HZB’s newly constructed Energy Materials Insitu Laboratory (EMIL) at the synchrotron light source BESSY II facility in Berlin. Together, HZB and Altatech will investigate new materials-deposition processes, functional interfaces and device structures for solar energy conversion and storage.
Altatech’s new AltaCVD system will be used in HZB’s EMIL lab to deposit amorphous silicon (alloys), transparent conductive oxides and ultra-thin dielectrics used in fabricating next generation solar energy devices. The CVD system will be hosted by the new EMIL building, adjacent to HZB´s third-generation storage ring BESSY II. The cluster tool will be directly connected to a state-of-the-art X-ray analytical end-station, which accesses a dedicated beam line from BESSY II. The partner organizations will conduct atomic-layer deposition, plasmaenhanced chemical vapor deposition and physical vapor deposition on substrates ranging from small research samples up to fully industry-compatible six-inch wafers and use EMIL’s outstanding analytical capabilities to analyze material and interface properties in between successive processing steps.
“EMIL aims at exploring materials for high-efficiency photovoltaic cells and new catalytic processes for future solar energy generation and storage concepts. We will develop and characterize these materials with basic energy research methods, but prepare them with industrially related methods to ensure rapid industrial implementation,” says Prof. Klaus Lips, head of the EMIL project and HZB’s Advanced Analytics Group. “The AltaCVD system provides us with a unique combination of a highly flexible design in terms of temperatures, precursors, plasma cleaning, etc. with a fully industrial-compatible deposition technology.”
“This order reinforces the AltaCVD system’s leadership position in advanced materialdeposition applications,” says Jean-Luc Delcarri, general manager of Soitec’s Altatech subsidiary. “Our collaboration with the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin allows us to apply our advanced material-deposition technology at a state-of-the-art synchrotron radiation facility. Together, we are opening the door to a new era in advanced renewable-energy development that will help researchers to tackle the challenges of future world energy needs.”
- Successful master's degree in IR thermography on solar facadesWe are delighted to congratulate our student employee Luca Raschke on successfully completing her Master's degree in Renewable Energies at the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin - and with distinction!
- BESSY II: Phosphorous chains – a 1D material with 1D electronic propertiesFor the first time, a team at BESSY II has succeeded in demonstrating the one-dimensional electronic properties of a material through a highly refined experimental process. The samples consisted of short chains of phosphorus atoms that self-organise at specific angles on a silver substrate. Through sophisticated analysis, the team was able to disentangle the contributions of these differently aligned chains. This revealed that the electronic properties of each chain are indeed one-dimensional. Calculations predict an exciting phase transition to be expected as soon as these chains are more closely packed. While material consisting of individual chains with longer distances is semiconducting, a very dense chain structure would be metallic.
- What vibrating molecules might reveal about cell biologyInfrared vibrational spectroscopy at BESSY II can be used to create high-resolution maps of molecules inside live cells and cell organelles in native aqueous environment, according to a new study by a team from HZB and Humboldt University in Berlin. Nano-IR spectroscopy with s-SNOM at the IRIS beamline is now suitable for examining tiny biological samples in liquid medium in the nanometre range and generating infrared images of molecular vibrations with nanometre resolution. It is even possible to obtain 3D information. To test the method, the team grew fibroblasts on a highly transparent SiC membrane and examined them in vivo. This method will provide new insights into cell biology.