Patent 7951637 was granted and assigned to Applied Materials on May, 2011 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Embodiments of the invention contemplate the formation of a high efficiency solar cell using novel methods to form the active doped region(s) and the metal contact structure of the solar cell device. In one embodiment, the methods include the steps of depositing a dielectric material that is used to define the boundaries of the active regions and/or contact structure of a solar cell device. Various techniques may be used to form the active regions of the solar cell and the metal contact structure.