Researchers of hybrid solar cell fabrication at Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) in Munich have ordered an advanced sputtering tool from U.K.-based Surrey NanoSystems. The tool will be used in the creation of high-efficiency interconnection templates for organic materials, thereby greatly increasing the efficiency of the cells, according to LMU.
The tool, a configuration of Surrey NanoSystems' Gamma PVD sputtering tool, will be put into operation at the LMU's Department of Physics and Centre for NanoScience. LMU specified some features of the tool, including the facility to aid in the production of uniform aluminium films for the formation of porous alumina membranes for application to a variety of substrates. The researchers will also be equipped with the resources to deposit barrier layers and other inter-layer films in researching adherence levels of the solar cell’s structure.
“Structural precision is a key element of making efficient, low-loss hybrid solar cells, and LMU's research will focus heavily on this aspect,” says Professor Lukas Schmidt-Mende, LMU Department of Physics and Centre for NanoScience. “The high quality of film deposition that the Gamma tool can achieve gives us a very versatile platform to support our studies.”
By Síle Mc Mahon