Claims
- 1. The method of making a solar-cell array comprising a plurality of spaced, elongate, units having body material of a first conductivity type, each unit having upstanding sidewalls and having therebetween an upper surface adapted for exposure to receive incident radiation, adjacent pairs of sidewalls at first spaces between adjacent units each including a region of a second conductivity type, adjacent pairs of sidewalls at second spaces between adjacent units being devoid of second conductivity-type regions, and first-space pairs of sidewalls being in alternating interlace with second-space pairs of sidewalls in a given direction of traverse of the units of said array; which method comprises selecting a wafer of semiconductor substrate material of said first conductivity type, cutting a first series of elongate parallel grooves in said wafer at twice the center-to-center spacing of said units, forming said second conductivity-type regions in the sidewalls of the grooves of said first series, and thereafter cutting a second series of elongate grooves parallel to those of said first series, the grooves of said second series being in alternating interlace with those of said first series.
- 2. The method of claim 1, including the additional step of forming regions of higher impurity concentration in sidewalls of grooves of said second series to the exclusion of grooves of said first series.
- 3. The method of claim 1, in which the step of cutting said first series of grooves proceeds upwardly to a point close to but short of said upper surface, whereby the junction between each of said second conductivity-type regions and said first conductivity-type material is buried beneath the plane of the upper surfaces of said units
- 4. The method of claim 1, in which both cutting steps proceed to the extent of the full thickness of the wafer.
- 5. The method of claim 1, in which the cutting step for at least one of said series proceeds to the extent of the full thickness of said wafer.
- 6. The method of claim 2, in which the step of cutting said second series of grooves proceeds upwardly to a point close to but short of said upper surface, whereby said regions of higher impurity concentration extend close to but are buried beneath the plane of the upper surfaces of said units.
Parent Case Info
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 877,356, filed Feb. 13, 1978, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,458.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
877356 |
Feb 1978 |
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