Korean Journal of Materials Research ISSN:1225-0562(Print) 2287-7258(Online) 한국재료학회지

Copper electroplating and electrode patterning using a screen printer are applied instead of lithography for heterostructure with intrinsic thin layer(HIT) silicon solar cells. Samples are patterned on an indium tin oxide(ITO) layer using polymer resist printing. After polymer resist patterning, a Ni seed layer is deposited by sputtering. A Cu electrode is electroplated in a Cu bath consisting of Cu₂SO₄ and H₂SO₄ at a current density of 10 mA/cm². Copper electroplating electrodes using a screen printer are successfully implemented to a line width of about 80 μm. The contact resistance of the copper electrode is 0.89 mΩ·cm², measured using the transmission line method(TLM), and the sheet resistance of the copper electrode and ITO are 1 Ω/□ and 40 Ω/□, respectively. In this paper, a screen printer is used to form a solar cell electrode pattern, and a copper electrode is formed by electroplating instead of using a silver electrode to fabricate an efficient solar cell electrode at low cost.