Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Silicon Wafer Metallization

Electrical contacts are formed through squeezing a metal paste through mesh screens to create a metal grid. This metal paste (usually Ag or Al) needs to be dried so that subsequent layers can be screen-printed using the same method. As a last step, the wafer is heated in a continuous firing furnace at temperatures ranging from 780 to 900°C. This completes the metallization process, removes solvent and binder, and forms electrical contacts. Metallization is the most critical step. The challenge of reducing wafer thickness for higher efficiency has created stringent requirements for both the equipment and the process itself. 

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