Etching of doped glasses such as PSG, along with polishing steps, is typically performed using inline wet-chemical tools or cluster configurations. For the latest TaiyangNews Market Survey on Solar Cell Production Equipment 2025, Shenzhen S.C provided data for 3 such models.
The updated SC-LSS14400CS + SCCSZJ14400F-16G configuration combines 2 tools as part of a cluster solution for doped glass etching and polishing. This solution uses HF-based acidic inline treatment for doped glass etching and KOH-based alkaline chemistry for other etching steps. The inline tool features 10 or 12 lanes, depending on wafer size. The combined throughput is 15,120 wafers per hour for M10 wafers, dropping to 9,600 for G12 wafers. While the tool has the same mechanical yield as the other tools of the company, rated at 99% and its uptime is 98%. The company’s other cluster solution, SC-LSS7000CS+ SC-CSZ7000-14F, also promoted for the same application, is somewhat older. Its ability to process thinner wafers is limited to 140 μm. The number of parallel lanes the inline part can handle varies between 5 and 10, depending on the wafer size, although the details are not provided. The solution supports throughputs of 8,500 M10 wafers or 7,000 G12 wafers per hour.
The third tool from Shenzhen S.C, the SCLSS4200CS, represents the company’s inline-only solution designed for PSG etching and surface polishing. It uses a combination of acidic and alkaline chemistries and supports wafer sizes up to M10, with thicknesses ranging from 140 to 200 μm. It is configured with 5 parallel processing lanes and features 3 chemical baths for active etching and polishing, along with 3 additional baths for rinsing and cleaning. It achieves a maximum throughput of 4,700 wafers per hour while delivering an uptime of at least 97%, like the SC-LSS7000CS + SCCSZ7000-14F cluster. These specs make it most suited for earlier-generation mono-PERC production.
The text is an edited excerpt from TaiyangNews’ latest Market Survey on Solar Cell Production Equipment 2025, which can be downloaded for free here.
