INCREASING YIELDS AND BROADENING MARKETS: PROCESS INNOVATIONS IN THE MANUFACTURING OF ENERGY-SAVING WINDOW GLAZINGS

Burdis, Mark ; Sbar, Neil

SAGE Electrochromics, Inc. (United States)

关键词: Monitoring;    Windows;    Process Control;    Energy Conservation;    32 Energy Conservation, Consumption, And Utilization;   

DOI  :  10.2172/840353
RP-ID  :  NONE
RP-ID  :  FC26-99FT40647
RP-ID  :  840353

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

The goal of this project was to develop and implement advanced thin film process technology which would significantly improve the manufacturability of both static and dynamic high performance energy saving coatings for windows. The work done has been aimed at improvements to the process that will result in increases in yield, and this was divided into four main areas, dealing with improvements in substrate preparation methods, reductions in the incidence of problems caused by particulate contamination, use of in-situ optical monitoring to improve process control, and overall system integration to enable simplified, and therefore lower cost operation. Significant progress has been made in each of the areas. In the area of substrate preparation, the enhanced washing techniques which have been developed, in combination with a new inspection technique, have resulted in significant reductions in the number of EC devices which are rejected because of substrate problems. Microscopic inspection of different defects in electrochromic devices showed that many were centered on particles. As a result, process improvements aimed at reducing the incidence of particles throughout the entire process have been implemented. As a result, the average number of defects occurring per unit area has been significantly reduced over the period of this project. The in-situ monitoring techniques developed during this project have become an indispensable part of the processing for EC devices. The deposition of several key layers is controlled as a result of in-situ monitoring, and this has facilitated significant improvements in uniformity and repeatability. Overall system integration has progressed to the stage where the goal of a closed-loop monitoring and control system in within reach, and it is anticipated that this will be achieved during the scale-up phase. There has been a clear increase in the yield occurring over the period of this project (Sept 1999 to September 2003), which is attributable to a range of process improvements implemented as a result of this work. It is anticipated that the yield will increase further as a result of these ongoing programs. The manufacturability of these advanced glazing systems has also been significantly improved, by a variety of different measures such as in-situ monitoring, system integration, and measurements taken to reduce the incidence of defects caused by contamination. It is therefore anticipated that the transfer of this performance to the new coating equipment to be introduced during scale-up to the first manufacturing plant will be reasonably straightforward.