Besides the „classical”︁ inorganic solar cells based on silicon, research on novel solar cell technologies has been intensified in the last years. The focus has been put especially on organic solar cells (OPV). Their industrial production has been made possible only recently.Organic solar cells constitute an alternative to common mono‐ and polycrystalline solar cells as well as the novel thin‐film technologies. Silicon, CIS/CIGS (Copper‐Indium‐Gallium‐Selenide) and Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) are used as semiconductor materials for the last‐mentioned technology, which are largely made up of heavy metals. Highly poisonous and environmentally harmful chemicals are often involved in the production which requires large amounts of energy.

Plant and machinery manufacturers face a turbulent market in the photovoltaic industry after years of growth. The core problem is cost-reduction pressure from conventional energy sources (0.05 € / kWh) as opposed to photovoltaic (0.13 € / kWh for Germany, respectively) [1]. Prevailing competitive pressure on producers, plant manu facturers and suppliers is reflected in an innovation race. The objective of all these projects is to increase the degree of cell effectiveness while at the same time reducing manufacturing costs. Cell concepts that complement existing plant technology, thereby breaking through insuperable effectiveness limits using productivity optimization, offer a starting point here.

3D-MicromacChemnitz, Germany 3D-Micromac is the leading specialist in laser micromachining. 3D-Micromac delivers powerful, user-friendly and leading edge processes with superior production efficiency. These proprietary technology innovations are now readily available on a worldwide scale.

No abstract

The growth of the magnetic sensor market is driven by position, speed and angle sensing needs across consumer and industrial applications. Thermal annealing has been used to maximize the magnetoresistance effects of magnetic sensors, but requires multiple steps to produce sensors with different magnetic orientations. This article gives an overview of a new selective laser annealing approach that provides several advantages over thermal annealing, such as enabling smaller magnetic device structures, reducing process steps and simplifying magnetic sensor manufacturing.