Gold-platinum solar cell contact is developed which does not exhibit chemical reactivity of titanium or porosity of silver. This contact offers excellent ohmic characteristics and stability in humid air

Bishop, C. J.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

August 1972	 B72-10517 
NASA TECH BRIEF 
NASA Headquarters	
A A 
NASA Tech Briefs announce now technology derived from the U.S. space program. They are issued to encourage 
commercial application. Tech Briefs are available on a subscription basis from the National Technical Information 
Service, Springfield, Virginia 22151. Requests for individual copies or questions relating to the Tech Brief program may 
be directed to the Technology Utilization Office, NASA, Code KT, Washington, D.C. 20546. 
Humidity Resistant Solar Cell Contacts 
'\' 111m Silver 
'\. 1pm Titanium 
Doped Silicon 
Present Solar-Cell Contact 
The problem: 
The present silver-titanium solar-cell contacts are 
protected with solder to avoid damage in humid environ-
ments. To decrease weight, solderless silver-titanium 
contacts were tried, but they degraded in humid 
environments. 
The solution: 
A gold-platinum contact was developed, as shown 
in the figure, which does not exhibit the chemical 
reactivity of titanium or the porosity of silver. This 
contact offers excellent ohmic characteristics and sta-
bility in humid air. 
How it's done: 
Approximately 0.1 pm of platinum is sputtered onto 
the doped silicon layer. The assembly is sintered in 
vacuum to form a platinum-silicide ohmic contact which 
has a good mechanical adhesion to silicon. Afterwards,
1 to 3 A Gold 
"0.1 /Am Platinum 
Doped Silicon
Proposed Solar-Cell Contact 
1 to 3 pm of gold is evaporated or electroplated onto 
the platinum to form the finished contact. 
Note: 
Requests for further information may be directed to: 
Technology Utilization Officer 
NASA Headquarters 
Code KT 
Washington, D.C. 20546 
Reference: B72-10517 
Patent status: 
No patent action is contemplafed by NASA. 
Source: C. J. Bishop of 
Boeing Corp.
under contract to
NASA Headquarters
(HQN- 10674) 
/
Category 04 
This document was prepared under the sponsorship of the National 	 Government assumes any liability resulting from the use of the 
Aeronautics and Space Administration. Neither the United States 	 information contained in this document, or warrants that such use 
Government nor any person acting on behalf of the United States 	 will be free from privately owned rights.
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19720000516 2020-03-17T03:33:58+00:00Z


Humidity resistant solar cell contacts

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

NASA Technical Reports Server