Singulus Technology’s Latest PVD Coating, PECVD, & Wet Chemistry Tools At Intersolar Europe 2024

The well-known Germany-headquartered PVD sputtering deposition tool supplier, Singulus Technologies in collaboration with Jinchen Machinery, exhibited the latest PVD coating, PECVD, and wet-processing tools at the Intersolar Europe 2024. Recently the PVD tool maker announced a joint venture with Jinchen Machinery, a turnkey and individual PV module production tool supplier. 

Speaking to TaiyangNews, both companies underscored the advantages of offering turnkey solutions by leveraging Singulus' expertise in cell production tools combined with Jinchen Machinery’s support in technology, after-sales service, and project management. Jinchen Technology, an expert in PV module production line and module line automation solutions, currently has an installed base of 500 GW of cell and module production lines.

Singulus PVD Sputtering Tool

The German company promotes a double-sided coating PVD tool, the GENERIS PVD sputtering system. The tool, which operates on the inline horizontal substrate transportation mechanism, is suitable for the HJT cell’s double-sided transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer deposition application.

According to the latest company datasheet, this PVD tool can process up to 8,000 wafers per hour of G12 HJT cells. It can process multiple sputtering target materials like TCOs and other reactively sputtered layers – ITO, AZO, TiO2 on thin wafers up to 60 µm. Its rotatable cylindrical magnetrons can utilize high levels of target materials. The company added that its high-speed automated dual-side sputtering mechanism, which operates in a top-down and bottom-up manner without any vacuum interruptions, leads to less wafer breakage and fewer wafer marks.

PECVD Tool

On the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) route, the company promotes the updated GENERIS PECVD tool platform. This inline tool employed with inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and capacitively coupled (CCP), can process up to 5,400 wafers per hour for G12 cell size.

Singulus said that its PECVD platform is suitable for coating layer deposition in multiple applications - TOPCon, HJT, and PERC. For TOPCon technology route, the passivated contacts are coated with single-sided polycrystalline silicon poly-Si (n,p) layers or both side a-Si (I,p,n) layers in the case of an HJT cell. The company added that its PECVD tool can deposit multiple PECVD materials to achieve different functionalities - anti-reflection layers, barrier layers, electrical contacting, or insulating layers.