j donnellykla tencor

Critical Considerations for Metrology and Inspection in Solar Manufacturing

Jeff Donnelly, Group VP - Growth & Emerging Markets July 2011

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Outline

Process Control in Manufacturing

Solar PV Trends

Benefits of Automated Process Control

Summary

3

How Do We “Really” Get Defects Down?

4

Process Control: Across Multiple Industries

Fertilizer Optimization for Corn Yield “Zero Defect” in Automotive Chip Manufacturing

・・・・・・

1200ppm Engine 1200ppm Engine ECU defectECU defect

Even if Even if 1 ppm1 ppmpart defectpart defect

120 cars120 cars defective out of defective out of 100,000 car100,000 car

PartsParts Engine ECUEngine ECU

(1200 parts)(1200 parts)

CarCar

Z.D. ( Zero Defect ) is neededZ.D. ( Zero Defect ) is needed

5

KLA-Tencor

Installed base ~21,000 tools

> 5,300 employees

~ 3,400 technical personnel in 17 countries

#1 Market Share in Process Control for 35 years

>$1.5B R&D investments over last 4 years

FY 2010 revenue: >$1.8B, ~>$3B for FY’11

Global leader in yield acceleration since 1976

KLA-Tencor Markets

IC FabWafer Reticle Solar Service/AppsLED

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PV Capacity Forecast

Source: Goldman Sachs

GW

Overall CAGR expected to be 24% from 2010 -2015

Asia to dominate capacity

By 2015, Asia will account more than 75 % of total capacity, with China having the largest installed capacity

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Multiple Competing Technologiesc-Si to maintain dominance.

Source: GTM Research

81% 77%71% 74% 73% 69% 67%

6%7%

7% 6% 4%4% 5%

6% 8%12% 10% 11% 13% 13%

1% 1% 2% 2% 4% 5% 7%

6% 6% 8% 9% 9% 9% 8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2007 2008 2009 2010E 2011E 2012E 2013E

Crystalline Si Super Mono c-Si CdTe CIGS a-Si

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Goal is to Achieve Grid Parity

Source: Goldman Sachs

GRID PARITY

Average insolation (Kwh^2/day)

Aver

age

reta

il po

wer

pric

e ($

/kW

h)

2010E

2014E

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Technology54%Productivity

25%

Scaling21%

3 Levers to Improve Cost/Watt

Source : Q.Cells

20µ thinner wafer

~7% cost reductioncell manufacturing

1% efficiency increase

~15% cost reductioncell manufacturing

Efficiency Thickness Kerf loss

High volume production Reduce unit costs

22% price decrease when doubling module production

volume

1% yield increase

~5% cost reduction cell manufacturing

Yield increase Manufacturing excellence Standardization

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Process Control in a Solar Cell Fab Enables All 3 Levers

BARE WAFER TEST Optical µ-cracks TTV & Rs Lifetime Surface roughness

Chemical etching & texturization POCl3 diffusion P-glass removal Silicon nitride ARC

Backside printing Frontside printingCo-FiringClassification

TEXTURE INSPECTION Off-line reflectivity

measurement Weighing for etch check

SHEET RESISTANCEInline sheet resistance

LIFETIMEInline µ-PCD lifetime

EDGE ISOLATION TESTOffline edge isolation test ARC-CONTROL

Inline camera system

PRINT-INSPECTION (FS & BS) Inline camera systems Weighing to check added metal weight

µ-crack on Finished Cellcamera, ultrasonic, stability

CELL CLASSIFICATION (FS & BS)Inline camera systems

ELECTRICAL TEST In-line characterization of cell

efficiency & class analysis Shunt inspection

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Process Control Improves Learning Curve and Enables Capacity Potential

Assumptions: ASP = $4/cell, 1200 UPH/30MW

Cell Position x

Cel

l Pos

ition

yC

ell P

ositi

on y

Data Collection & Aggregation makes Fast Root-Cause Analysis Possible.

LINE 1

LINE 2

Post-Coating Inspection: AOI Allows Faster Learning & Capacity Ramp

Small Reduction in output can lead to substantial $ loss

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Process Control Improves Learning Curve and Enables Capacity PotentialStatistically Understand Yield Issues to Learn Fast & Ramp Fast

In high volume production understanding cause of systematic defects is critical

An integrated hardware and software solution enables quick understanding of root cause of systematic defects

Small Reduction in output can lead to substantial $ loss

Assumptions: ASP = $4/cell, 1200 UPH/30MW

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Process Control for Improved Cell Efficiency

Efficiency

Finger Width

0.3% Improvement

Parametric Monitoring to Understand Efficiency Improvement Opportunities

Time

Efficiency Improvement Adds Substantial Revenue

Assumptions: Cell ASP = $1/watt, Nominal 17% -efficiency capacity operating at average 16% production efficiency.

Screen Changed

16%

Entitlement η

Time

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Selective Emitter

Hetero JunctionInter digitated Backside Contact

Metal Wrap-thru

Emitter Wrap-thru

Metal Double Printing

Process Control can Accelerate Innovation

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Process Monitoring Enables Higher Yield

saw mark

chippingµcrack

color & coating thickness

finger interruptfinger knotbusbar defectblister

Alu paste defect

Chemical etching & texturisation POCl3 diffusion P-glass removal Silicon nitride ARC

Backside printingCo-FiringClassification Frontside Printing

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Solar Reference Cells & Cert. Services

Step Height Standards

Silicon Nitride Standards

Resistivity Standards

Aluminum Thickness Standards

Step Height Standards

Chemical etching & texturisation POCl3 diffusion P-glass removal Silicon nitride ARC

Backside printing Frontside printingCo-FiringClassification

KLA-Tencor Solutions for Process Control in a Solar PV Fab

PVI-6Wafer Inspectionµcrack Inspection

PVI-6Front & BacksideClassifier

PVI-6Front & Backside Print Inspection

P6 / P16+Profiler

Fab Vision

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Thin Film PV Inspection

Backside glass

Cleaning

Deposition front / backside contact

Structuring P1

Depostion layer

(Chemical steps)

Structuring P2

Deposition front / backside contact

Structuring P3

I-V curve tracer

Back end processing

Solar module

Incoming Substrate Quality

Post Deposition Inspection

End of Line Electrical Test

Incoming quality

Layer deposition

Structuring

Layer deposition

StructuringChemical

step

Layer deposition

Structuring

I-V curve tracer

FinalQuality after back end

Flashertest

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Future Process Control Requirementsfor Further Price/Watt Decrease

Central control of all metrology tools (recipe, calibration, reference sets, etc.)

Introduction of wafer & cell tracking

Integrated quality system for real-time process control

Introduction of wafer & cell tracking

High resolution inspection & metrology

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Summary: Benefits From Process ControlImproved Performance and Lower Costs

Months

Faster Development:Understand requirements, Resolve gaps, Optimize Strategy

Faster Ramp:Quickly Identify and Solve Key Yield Issues

Improved Production Entitlement:Highest, Stable YieldsQuickly Identify and SolveYield Excursions

Maximize production efficiency Reduce cycle time Increase process tool

productivity Reduce material at risk

Detect and fix process issues earlier

Reduce field failures Improve traceability

Accelerate time-to-market

KLA-Tencor contributes directly to lowering Cost/Watt and improving performance (yield)

Yiel

d

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