Exploitable results

“2Foil Encapsulation” (2f) for enhanced OPV production

“2Foil Encapsulation” (2f) for enhanced OPV production
© HELIATEK GmbH
“2Foil Encapsulation” (2f) for enhanced OPV production

Needs for industrial OPV production

  • Higher life time and efficiency
  • Production throughput


Solution through 2f encapsulation concept

  • Life time enhancing through processing on top of barrier and final thin film encapsulation
  • Introduction of more efficient absorber/stack combinations
  • Transfer of verified processes and monitoring for quality enhancement
  • Upscaling from 300 mm to 1200 mm web width for higher throughput

Laser ablation process chamber

Laser ablation process chamber
© HOLST Centre
Laser ablation process chamber
  • hermetic sealed chamber with transparent windows for laser radiation
  • to minimize the risk of exposure of hazardous materials during laser ablation
  • process chamber is suitable not only for direct laser structuring of transparent conductive layers (e. g. AgNW) on R2R barrier, but also for ablation of potential toxic layers / materials (e. g. Perovskite and CIGS based stacks) or laser processing of materials which are sensitive for oxidation, for example

Camera test station

Camera test station
© 3D-MICROMAC AG
Camera test station
  • for fast and easy development of camera and lightening systems for inspection tasks
  • allows the optimization of image quality in much shorter time by quick and easy installation of different cameras, illumination setups and camera lenses
  • simulation of Roll-to-Roll process by a moving stage

Direct laser structuring of TC on R2R barrier without laser inconsistencies

Direct laser structuring of TC on R2R barrier without laser inconsistencies
© HOLST Centre
Direct laser structuring of TC on R2R barrier without laser inconsistencies
  • successful correction of laser inconsistencies in P1 scribe with optimized conditions
  • consistent laser ablation of TC on barrier films and other substrates like heat-stabilized PET substrate
  • non-uniformity in the laser tracks can be safely avoided

Surface source of side light

View of the light source (left) an image of P1 and P2 laser lines of "Alabo" material (right)
© Sorter
View of the light source (left) an image of P1 and P2 laser lines of "Alabo" material (right)
  • Optimal lighting for inspections in the production process of materials such as glass, foils, etc.

Sensitive detection method beyond optical microscopy for detailed damage information on laser ablated layers on barrier foils

Ca-test setup
© HOLST Centre
Ca-test setup
Local damage of the barrier layer is detected by optical Ca test
© HOLST Centre
Local damage of the barrier layer is detected by optical Ca test
  • new platform for detection of barrier damage and successful laser process window by means of optical Ca test
  • Permeation method to quantify the water vapour transmission rate (WVTR) of barrier substrates (OPV / OLED industry)
  • large advantage above other permeation methods like mass spectrometry:
    - the returned information on the barrier degradation is 2-dimensional
    - testing of many laser scribes on one single sample

Test equipment for accelerated WVTR measurements

Test equipment for accelerated WVTR measurements
© Fraunhofer IWS Dresden
Test equipment for accelerated WVTR measurements
  • development of an unit for sample preconditioning for WVTR measurements (up to 5 samples, 20 °C – 85 °C, 50 % – 90 % relative humidity)
  • 4-5 times higher sample throughput per measurement unit
  • faster and hence a much more efficient development of novel barrier materials using the target gas

Rapid gas barrier measurements for quality control of gas barrier materials

WVTR and HeTR of different sample stacks (OPV-relevant)
WVTR and HeTR of different sample stacks (OPV-relevant)
  • new concepts for industrial compatible in-line inspection of barrier properties
  • the fundamental trend of water vapour transmission rate (WVTR) performance can be derived roughly by fast Helium transmission rate (HeTR) measurement
  • the measurement time for the evaluation of ultra-barrier samples (10-6 g m-2 d-1) can be shorten from 6 weeks (based on WVTR measurement by tunable laser diode spectroscopy – TDLAS) to 12 hours (using HeTR measurement by mass spectroscopy – MS) à possibility of daily quality control