Conductive paste and electronic device and solar cell including an electrode formed using the conductive paste

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9947809-B2
Application number	US-201213673359-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 9, 2012
Priority date	Nov 11, 2009
Publication date	Apr 17, 2018
Grant date	Apr 17, 2018

Abstract

A conductive paste includes a conductive powder, a metallic glass having a glass transition temperature of less than or equal to about 600° C. and a supercooled liquid region of greater than or equal to 0 K, and an organic vehicle, and an electronic device and a solar cell include an electrode formed using the conductive paste.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A conductive paste comprising:
a conductive powder;
an organic vehicle; and
a metallic glass,
the metallic glass being an alloy including at least two elements and not being formed of an oxide,
the metallic glass having a glass transition temperature of less than or equal to about 600° C., and
the metallic glass having a supercooled liquid region of greater than or equal to about 0 K; and
the metallic glass including at least one of an aluminum-based metallic glass, a cerium-based metallic glass, a strontium-based metallic glass, a gold-based metallic glass, a zinc-based metallic glass, a calcium-based metallic glass, a magnesium-based metallic glass, a platinum-based metallic glass, a palladium-based metallic glass, and a zirconium-based metallic glass.

2. The conductive paste of claim 1 , wherein the metallic glass includes the aluminum-based metallic glass.

3. The conductive paste of claim 2 , wherein the glass transition temperature of the metallic glass ranges from about 10° C. to about 400° C.

4. The conductive paste of claim 2 , wherein the supercooled liquid region of the metallic glass ranges from about 0 K to about 200 K.

5. The conductive paste of claim 2 , wherein the metallic glass exists at least partly in an amorphous state.

6. The conductive paste of claim 2 , wherein
the metallic glass further includes at least one of nickel (Ni), yttrium (Y), cobalt (Co), lanthanum (La), zirconium (Zr), iron (Fe), and titanium (Ti).

7. The conductive paste of claim 2 , wherein the conductive powder includes one of silver (Ag), aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and a combination thereof.

8. The conductive paste of claim 2 , wherein the conductive powder and the metallic glass are respectively included in an amount of about 30 wt % to about 99 wt %, about 0.1 wt % to about 20 wt %, and a remaining balance of the conductive paste is the organic vehicle.

9. An electronic device comprising:
an electrode formed by sintering the conductive paste of claim 2 .

10. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the electronic device includes a flexible electronic device.

11. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the electrode does not have a glass transition temperature (Tg).

12. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein
the electrode further includes at least one of a glass frit and a crystalline powder, and
the at least one of the glass frit and the crystalline powder contains an element that is the same as one of the at least two elements in the metallic glass.

13. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein a contact resistance of the electrode is less than or equal to about 1 kΩcm 2 .

14. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein a resistivity of the electrode is less than or equal to about 10 mΩcm.

15. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein
the metallic glass further includes at least one of nickel (Ni), yttrium (Y), cobalt (Co), lanthanum (La), zirconium (Zr), iron (Fe), and titanium (Ti).

16. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the electronic device includes a solar cell.

17. A solar cell comprising:
a semiconductor substrate; and
at least one electrode electrically connected to the semiconductor substrate,
the at least one electrode formed by sintering the conductive paste according to claim 2 .

18. The solar cell of claim 17 , wherein
the at least one electrode includes first and second electrodes having different conductive types, and
the first and second electrodes are positioned on a rear side of the semiconductor substrate, respectively.

19. The solar cell of claim 17 , further comprising:
a passivation layer on a rear side of the semiconductor substrate.

20. The solar cell of claim 17 , wherein the at least one electrode includes:
a buffer portion in a first region adjacent to the semiconductor substrate; and
an electrode portion in a second region different from a region where the buffer portion is formed, the electrode portion including a conductive material.

21. The solar cell of claim 20 , wherein the buffer portion is conductive.

22. The solar cell of claim 17 , wherein
the metallic glass further includes at least one of nickel (Ni), yttrium (Y), cobalt (Co), lanthanum (La), zirconium (Zr), iron (Fe), and titanium (Ti).

23. The solar cell of claim 17 , wherein a contact resistance of the at least one electrode is less than or equal to about 1 kΩcm 2 .

24. The solar cell of claim 17 , wherein a resistivity of the at least one electrode is less than or equal to about 10 mΩcm.

25. The solar cell of claim 17 , wherein the at least one electrode does not have a glass transition temperature (Tg).

26. The solar cell of claim 17 , wherein
the conductive paste further includes at least one of a glass frit and a crystalline powder, and
the at least one of the glass frit and the crystalline powder contains an element that is the same as an element of the metallic glass.

27. A conductive paste comprising:
a conductive powder;
an organic vehicle; and
a metallic glass,
the metallic glass being an alloy including at least two elements and not being formed of an oxide,
the metallic glass having a glass transition temperature of less than or equal to about 350° C., and
the metallic glass having a supercooled liquid region of greater than or equal to about 0 K; and
the metallic glass including at least one of an aluminum-based metallic glass, a cerium-based metallic glass, a strontium-based metallic glass, a gold-based metallic glass, an ytterbium-based metallic glass, a zinc-based metallic glass, a calcium-based metallic glass, a magnesium-based metallic glass, a platinum-based metallic glass, and a palladium-based metallic glass.

28. The conductive paste of claim 27 , wherein the metallic glass includes the aluminum-based metallic glass.

29. The conductive paste of claim 28 , wherein the conductive powder and the metallic glass are respectively included in an amount of about 30 wt % to about 99 wt % and about 0.1 wt % to about 20 wt %, and a balance of the conductive paste includes the organic vehicle.

30. An electrode comprising:
a sintered product of the conductive paste according to claim 28 .

31. A method of making an electrode comprising:
depositing the conductive paste of claim 1 on a semiconductor substrate; and
heating the conductive paste on the semiconductor substrate in a furnace at a process temperature that is greater than the glass transition temperature of the conductive paste and less than or equal to about 600° C.

32. The method of claim 31 , wherein the heating the conductive paste on the semiconductor substrate includes converting an amorphous portion of the metallic glass into a crystalline portion of the metallic glass.

33. The method claim 31 , wherein
the glass transition temperature of the metallic glass is less than or equal to about 400° C., and
the supercooled liquid region of the metallic glass is greater than OK and less than or equal to about 200 K.

34. The method of claim 31 , wherein
the depositing the conductive paste on the semiconductor substrate includes screen printing the conductive paste onto the semiconductor substrate, and
the semiconductor substrate is part of a solar cell.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Se Yun
• Kim Suk Jun
• Lee Eun Sung
• Jee Sang Soo
• Heo Jeong Na

Classifications

• Y02E10/547

  Monocrystalline silicon PV cells · CPC title

• C22C45/00

  Amorphous alloys (making amorphous non-ferrous alloys C22C1/11) · CPC title

• B22F3/10

  Sintering only · CPC title

• B23K35/025

  Pastes, creams or slurries · CPC title

• B23K35/0261

  Rods, electrodes or wires · CPC title