Patent ID: 7863074

Claim:
A method for forming a thin film photovoltaic device having patterned electrode films, the method comprising: providing a soda lime glass substrate comprising a surface region; forming a lower electrode layer comprising a molybdenum material overlying the surface region; subjecting the lower electrode layer with one or more pulses of electromagnetic radiation from a laser source, the one or more pulses of electromagnetic radiation being capable of ablating one or more patterns from the lower electrode layer, the one or more patterns comprising one or more berm structures; processing the lower electrode layer comprising the one or more patterns using a mechanical brush device to remove the one or more berm structures; treating the lower electrode layer comprising the one or more patterns free from the one or more berm structures; forming an interconnect structure by filling a pattern, from the one or more patterns, with a conductive material, wherein a height of the interconnect structure is substantially equal to a thickness of the lower electrode layer; forming a layer of photovoltaic material overlying the lower electrode layer and the interconnect structure; and forming a first zinc oxide layer overlying the layer of photovoltaic material.