Solar Awards Thin Film Innovation Award Final DR 2/9/09 15:38 Page 27
SOLAR AWARDS
Custom designed for each equipment exist however on high pressure completely abated in-situ with proprietary
manufacturer, Isopad´s durable, high- compressed fluorine transport making it passive catalytic oxidation. Fluorine is
quality heating solutions provide impractical to use in a typical thin film PV filtered, purified of residual vapour-phase
equipment manufacturers with a reliable fab where annual gas consumption is HF to levels below 10 ppm and can then
heating solution. These large panels are very high. be used at its nominally atmospheric
used where nil outgassing, even heat, production pressure, or compressed and
reliability in use & high throughput are buffered to a safe working pressure of up
required – at temperatures up to 1000°C. to 1.4 bar g. To supply processes
Isopad´s designers call on decades of developed using diluted sources of
expertise to ensure the large panel fluorine, a blender can supply on-demand
heaters meet the needs of the customers blends of fluorine and inert gases.
needing solutions for large sized Neutral fluorine radicals are the chemical
deposition or lamination equipment. agent responsible for chamber cleaning,
and so chamber cleaning gases, like F2
or NF3, must be activated by
decomposing them to their atomic
components. Because there is less
energy in F2 bonds vs NF3 or SF6 bonds,
the decomposition takes much less
energy, and therefore activation can
proceed much faster or with less
Applications: Big heating plates, heater, On-site generation of F2 gas has been expensive equipment.
thin film, vacuum deposition, flat panel developed by Linde as a viable
27
display, photovoltaic solar cell alternative, with scaleable plants available Proprietary design of the electrolytic cell
manufacturing and lamination. Isopad to supply large PV production lines. and proprietary operating principles allow
www
heating panels are key components of Developed in the late 1990s, this proven the units to operate safely and reliably -
.solar
manufacturing equipment for thin film technology has been installed at more uptime is in excess of 99%. With more
vacuum deposition and lamination. They than 20 semiconductor, LCD and solar than 10 years of service, Linde on-site F2
-pv-management.com
are designed to help equipment makers cell production sites, including ST generation systems have proved to be
provide high quality, high throughput Microelectronics, Toshiba Matsushita highly effective in the demanding
solutions for solar panel assembly. Display, Samsung Electronics, and LG semiconductor, display, and thin-film PV
Display. Chamber cleaning with Linde industries
on-site generated F2 gives thin-film
Linde Electronics
manufacturers reduced cost per Watt and Replacing NF3 with Fluorine in a 500MW
provides the end user with a reduced thin film Si fab would result in elimination
Issue IV 2009
On-Site Fluorine Generation carbon footprint PV module. of NF3 consumption with an untreated
global warming potential equivalent to
CVD chamber cleaning using fluorinated On-site fluorine generators are sized over 8 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
gases has been commonplace in according to the total volume required at Linde’s proven technology for generating
semiconductor manufacturing for the production fab, and all rely on the F2 on-site and on-demand eliminates the
decades and proven to be a fast and same simple, low pressure, low need for large volume storage and
effective alternative to wet cleaning. This temperature and low inventory process addresses all the safety requirements for
process has been scaled up to deal with design. handling this reactive material. In addition
larger process chambers, first in TFT-LCD to its environmental benefit, F2 reduces
panel manufacture, and lately for large Anhydrous HF, supplied in either the gas the time for chamber cleaning, thereby
area thin film solar cell manufacture. or liquid phase, is the very low-cost feed increasing plant productivity, and
material The working fluid, KHF2.HF, is ultimately lowers cost per watt.p Linde’s
Many of the gases currently used such as liquid only above 70°C, and is contained on-site F2 generator offers Thin Film PV
Nitrogen Trifluoride (NF3) and Sulphur in a fluorine-resistant alloy vessel, which manufacturers two clear benefits over
Hexafluoride (SF6) have high global also serves as the cathode. Current conventional chamber cleaning gases:
warming potentials (GWP) [for example: applied through the anodes determines
17,200 for NF3 and 23,900 for SF6]. In the rate of fluorine production, and the Reduced carbon footprint payback time
line with the industry need to reduce evolved fluorine and hydrogen are for thin film modules:
greenhouse gas emissions, fluorine gas physically separated to prevent Based on recent independent studies of
(F2) has been identified as an effective recombination. Hydrogen is diluted for NF3 concentration in the atmosphere, the
alternative, having zero GWP. Restrictions direct disposal, or can be easily and resulting Global Warming Potential of
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44