Solar cells fabricated by ionised-cluster beam technology

It is shown that ionised-cluster beam deposition and epitaxial techniques are useful for the fabrication of photo-cells. A thin layer of single-crystal silicon and a very thin conductive metal film made by these techniques are used to obtain wide-spectrum sensitivity of the cells. The p-n junction diode has been made by n-type silicon epitaxy onto a p-type silicon substrate. The Schottky-barrier diode has been made by depositing a gold film onto an n-type silicon substrate. These techniques have a high potential for making an ohmic-contact electrode with good adhesion. The alloy process can be eliminated from the fabrication of a photocell. Finally, the current status of solar-cell technology in Japan is reviewed. (author)