Supply of laser ablation equipment

Tender description

SPECIFIC was setup in 2011 with the invaluable goal of bridging the gap from academic research to industrial and commercial application. Perovskite solar cells have shown unprecedented progress in global research in recent years and are viewed as the most promising technology in the next generation of solar modules. They offer a lower cost alternative to traditional high-purity crystalline silicon currently on the market, with the added compatibility with flexible substrates The Swansea University Bay campus site houses significant perovskite photovoltaic production and characterisation facilities including small scale spin coated to pilot scale roll to roll coating manufacturing capabilities housed within a cleanroom facility. To scale up the perovskite solar cells from small area (~1cm2) to large area modules (> 100cm2) cells are interconnected in series to reduce resistive losses in charge collection. Series connection can be achieved via registration method, mechanical scribing and laser ablation. In the current setup present at SPECIFIC laboratories modules are made using semi-automatic mechanical scribing or via registration method. Mechanical scribing damages the flexible substrate and hence not compatible with roll-to-roll fabrication while registration method leads to significantly lower geometric fill factor. Laser ablation process solves both these issues. The laser ablation system procured under this contract will be a significant upgrade to our existing system. It will be used to precisely control the depth and width of the ablation of perovskite and adjacent layers in the device stack and will be compatible with glass and flexible substrates.