Patent ID: 8828789

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a photovoltaic device, comprising: introducing one kind of ions or plural kinds of ions of different masses each comprising a same atom, which are produced by subjecting a source gas selected from hydrogen, helium, or halogen to plasma excitation, into a single crystal semiconductor substrate to form a separation layer in a region of the single crystal semiconductor substrate at a predetermined depth from the surface of the single crystal semiconductor substrate, forming a silicon oxide film over the single crystal semiconductor substrate by a chemical vapor deposition method with the use of an organic silane gas; bonding the single crystal semiconductor substrate to a substrate having an insulating surface by superposition thereof with the silicon oxide film interposed therebetween; performing thermal treatment in a state where the single crystal semiconductor substrate and the substrate having an insulating surface are superposed on each other to generate cleavage in the separation layer, and separating and removing the single crystal semiconductor substrate with a single crystal semiconductor layer left over the substrate having an insulating surface, and forming an impurity semiconductor layer as a photoelectric conversion layer by addition of an impurity element to the single crystal semiconductor layer.