TY - CONF A1 - Heuser, Lina A1 - Nofz, Marianne A1 - Müller, Ralf A1 - Deubener, J. T1 - Sintering of silver‑alkali zinc borate glass‑composites N2 - Since decades electric contacts based on silver metallization pastes are key components of photovoltaics and advanced microelectronics. For the metallization of commercial Si solar cells, high conductive silver glass pastes are cost effectively applicated by screen printing. Nevertheless, silver pastes are still one of the most crucial and expensive none Si materials in solar cells. Ever shorter time to market as well as increasing demands on reduced Ag consumption and line width require the targeted development of silver-glass-pastes with increased sinter ability and electrical conductivity. As a main difficulty, however, the liquid phase sintering of silver glass pastes is poorly understood so far. In the present study, the influence of different network modifier in alkali-zinc-borate paste glasses on liquid phase sintering of silver-glass-pastes was investigated. Low melting X2O-ZnO-B2O3 glasses with X = Na, Li and Rb (abbr. LZB, NZB, and RZB) were utilized to prepare silver-glass-composites containing 30 %Vol glass. Shrinkage behavior of the silver-glass-composites compared with that of pure silver and pure glass powder compacts was studied with heating microscopy. The powder compacts were uniaxially pressed and heated at 5 K/min to the glass softening temperature. Glass transformation temperature and viscosity of the glasses were respectively measured with dilatometry and rotational viscometry. The thermal behavior of the pure glasses was analyzed with thermal analysis. Additionally, the contact angle of glass on pure silver foil was determined by means of heating microscopy between room temperature and 830 °C. Thermal analysis of the alkali-zinc-borate-glasses under study has shown transformation temperatures between 450 °C (RZB), 460 °C (LZB) and 465 °C (NZB). For all glasses crystallization was found to start approximately at about 550 °C. However, different peak areas hint on a different degree of crystallization. Conformingly, the sintering behavior, measured in terms of area shrinkage, significantly differed for the silver-pastes under study. For silver-pastes with NZB or LZB-glass, sintering starts at 464 °C for NZB Ag pastes and at 451 °C for LZB Ag pastes and ends at 597 °C for NZB Ag paste and at 594 °C for LZB Ag paste. The sintering of the RZB Ag paste proceeds between 426 °C and 703 °C. The final densification was retarded possibly due to crystallization or swelling. The low sinter onset at 426 °C seems to correlate with the good wetting behavior of the RZB glass. Thus, the lowest apparent contact angle between the just densified powder compact sintered at a silver substrate was found for this glass. Moreover, microstructure analyses of the various composites indicate differences in silver dissolution and reprecipitation. T2 - Technology Crossover Extravaganza, HiTEC/CICMT/APEPS CY - Online meeting DA - 26.04.2021 KW - Silver-glass-metallization-paste KW - Sintering KW - Crystallization KW - Alkali ions KW - Sintering atmosphere PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-52872 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Heuser, Lina A1 - de Oliveira Guilherme Buzanich, Ana A1 - Radtke, Martin A1 - Agudo Jácome, Leonardo A1 - Feldmann, Ines A1 - Deubener, J. T1 - Silver diffusion in low-melting alkali zinc borate model glasses studied by means of SNMS, TEM and XAS N2 - In many late-breaking research fields as in photovoltaics, microelectronics, nuclear waste glasses or at least mirror glasses silver diffusion in glasses is relevant to the issues of high-level functionality and recycling. The present study is focused on silver diffusion in innovative, low-melting alkali zinc borate glasses (X2O-ZnO-B2O3, X = Li, Na, K, Rb) potentially usable for silver metallization-pastes in solar cells. The glasses were coated with a thin metallic silver layer and heat treatments in air and nitrogen close to Tg at 470 °C for 2 h were performed. After heat treatment under air and nitrogen atmospheres the coating thickness, measured by a white light interferometer, was about 1.8 µm thick. Silver depth profiles determined by means of secondary neutral mass spectrometry (SNMS) indicate the fastest silver diffusion to a depth of 3.5 µm for Li2O-ZnO-B2O3 (LZB) glass. Nevertheless, the influence of the different alkali ions on the silver diffusion is small. The oxygen availability determines the silver diffusion into the glasses. The oxygen promotes the oxidation of the silver layer enabling Ag+ to diffuse into the glass and to precipitate as Ag0. Both species were detected by x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The precipitated metallic silver particles in Na2O-ZnO-B2O3 (NZB) glass have a mean size of 5.9 nm ± 1.2 nm diameter, which was determined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Phase separation in zinc-rich and zinc-poor phases with a mean diameter of 75 nm ± 20 nm occurred in NZB glass after heat treatment. Ion diffusion of the glasses into the silver layer was suggested by EDX-line scans. T2 - 94. Glastechnische Tagung CY - Online meeting DA - 10.05.2021 KW - Silver diffusion KW - Alkali zinc borate glass KW - Metallic silver precipitates KW - Phase separation PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-52861 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -